My Preseason All American Teams

So we are now less than a week away from my favorite time of year, the start of college basketball.  This especially needs to happen because of my dysfunctional Auburn Tiger football team.  Friday night is the start of it all with midnight madness getting things underway.  With that, I am going to give my previews this week.  I am going to first start with a very debatable topic, Preseason All American teams.  With the constant influx of freshmen talent, it is a tough prediction to make as we saw last year with Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist making the 1^st team.  This year you hear freshman names such as Shabazz Muhammad (if he even plays) and Nerlens Noel (aka the Flat Top from Everett, MA).  This year, I am going to go against the recent trend and predict no freshman will be on the 1^st team.  Without further ado I present my 1^st,  2^nd, and 3^rd Teams as well as Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

1^st Team

F: Cody Zeller                        One of two consensus 1^st Team members (Doug McDermott being the other) has put Indiana back on the basketball map.  The younger brother of Tyler leads this title contending team in points, rebounds, blocked shots while being able to pass and run the floor well.  Player of the Year contender will be on everyone’s ballot for the 1^st Team.

F: Doug McDermott               The other shoo in, McDermott is the leader of the lesser known Creighton Blue Jays.  He may never be a great NBA player, but the junior is one of the most complete college basketball players out there.  He gave a much more talented UNC bunch everything it could handle by himself.  This Creighton team is better than last year, so get used to hearing a lot about McDermott.

G: Isaiah Canaan                    This Racer (pun alert) from Murray State is a lot like Chauncey “Big Shot” Billups.  Canaan comes up big when it matters most.  Canaan may be the best college player in Kentucky this year.  Canaan led the Racers to an awesome 23-0 start last year and expect similar results this year as Murray State will be a force again led by the feisty guard.

G: CJ McCollum                     Just ask Duke and Xavier how good CJ is as Lehigh knocked off Duke and put a huge scare into Xavier last March.  I have been watching McCollum since he was a freshman at Lehigh (the perks of Patriot League basketball) and the growth he has made has been tremendous.  Always a great scorer, he has developed into the best rebounding guard in the country and has such quick hands on the defensive side of the ball.  His scoring will get him on this list, but it’s the other things that make CJ McCollum great.

G: Trey Burke                         As a freshman Burke exploded last year for the Michigan Wolverines.  He is back, with a better squad this year and could be a sleeper to win Player of the Year.  Michigan hasn’t been this excited about its team since the Fab 5 days, and Burke is the reason why.  A great playmaker that can also score the basketball, Burke should be a first round pick in June too.

2^nd Team

F: Shabazz Muhammad          What a name – Shabazz is about as talented as it gets.  The only reason he is not on the first team, he might not play this year.  Faced with charges of illegal benefits in high school, he may not suit up until January.  But, if he does play, he will lead the UCLA Bruins back to where Bruins fans are used to – the Final Four.  Muhammad can score from anywhere and is extremely athletic.

F: Tony Mitchell                     The Missouri recruit ended up committing to North Texas because of academics, Mitchell is as talented as anyone in the country.  He also could be the most risky pick here as he doesn’t exactly have the best motor out there.  North Texas doesn’t exactly have the most talent around him, so Mitchell will have to lead them to the tourney to be included in this list, but man can he play.

C: Jeff Withey                        Everyone likes to make fun of Withey – they even made a website about his goofy faces he makes.  But what people don’t always talk about his how good of a defender Withey truly is.  He is a legit 7 footer that has shut down some of the best low post players – ask Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller what its like facing him.  Without Thomas Robinson or Tyshawn Taylor in the mix, look for Withey to expand his offensive role this year.

G: Elijah Johnson                    Back to back Jayhawks, does it get any better?  Elijah proved last year he certainly loves the big stage as Kansas wouldn’t have made it to the Championship without him.  No more Tyshawn Taylor, which means Elijah will now be handling the point guard duties.  He is a better decision making than Tyshawn with a much better shot.  Look for Elijah to shoot up everyone’s list this winter.

G: Phil Pressey                        Maybe the best pure point guard in the country (a lot easier without Scott Machado and Kendall Marshall around), Pressey can play.  Without a lot of the seniors from last year’s veteran squad, Pressey is looking to the take the SEC by storm this year.  Look for 8-10 assists per game from this little playmaker.

3^rd Team

F: Nerlens Noel                      In Lexington the Unibrow is gone and the Flat Top is in.  Big shoes to fill for Noel, but the Everett native has been blocking shots everywhere he has played already.  Look for that to continue as he looks to lead a very, very, very young Wildcats team with high expectations.  Noel has an extremely high ceiling and may end up making the 1^st Team by season’s end.

F: James Michael McAdoo     Zeller, Henson, Barnes, Marshall – all gone.  McAdoo looks to step up in a similar role to Thomas Robinson did last year.  The thing that separates McAdoo and T-Rob is the motor.  That is why T-Rob was 1^st Team and McAdoo is 3^rd Team.  UNC will lean heavily on this highly regarded sophomore.  He has an NBA ready body but is still raw on the offensive end.  If he gets a little help from his Tar Heel teammates I could see him as a 2^nd Teamer.

C: Mike Muscala                    Wow, another Patriot League player on this list.  Has this ever happened?  People forget that Muscala’s Bucknell Bison were the favorites in the Patriot League before CJ McCollum and Lehigh upset them in the Patriot League final.  Muscala played well against Arizona in the NIT last year and will continue to improve this year.  Muscala is a future NBA player who can rebound as well as anyone.  Look for a potential two bid league from the Patriot League this year from Lehigh and Bucknell and just enjoy Muscala and McCollum.

G: Kyle Anderson                  The people of Los Angeles sure are excited about this young prospect Kyle Anderson.  There are already people throwing around Magic Johnson comparisons.  I am not ready to put him in the NBA Hall of Fame yet, but the 6’9 point guard is a matchup nightmare for anyone in the Pac 12.  He has an NBA ready body with outstanding skills.  Will he put it all together?  I can’t wait to find out.

G: Ben McLemore                  Head Coach Bill Self doesn’t go raving about many of his own players as much as he has with McLemore.  Ben is a freshman for the Jayhawks this year, but was in the program last year as he was a partial qualifier.  Well, he is ready to step into the starting lineup.  Think Xavier Henry with more explosion.  Rock Chalk Jayhawk indeed.

Player of the Year:                Doug McDermott

This is really a toss up between McDemott and Cody Zeller.  Both players should be great this year for their respective teams.  Look for McDermott to win the award because he will have to do more for Creighton to be successful than Zeller will for Indiana.

Freshman of the Year:         Shabazz Muhammad/Kyle Anderson

Can you believe this award isn’t going to a Kentucky Wildcat?  Well UCLA’s freshmen class is loaded this year.  If Shabazz plays before January you can lock this award up for him.  If not, I look for his teammate Kyle Anderson to win the award.

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The NFL or NCAA – Who Has It Right?

It is late August, so that means only one thing when your baseball team is out of playoff contention – Football.  This always brings the interesting debate around the country, college or the NFL – what game is better.  Both sports are so different, which is why I love both.  Alright, enough of this intro, let’s get into what you came here for – the actual debate.

History

The NFL has teams such as the 49ers, Cowboys, Steelers and Packers who have tremendous history.  However, they can’t compete with USC, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame.  The first college game took place in 1875, which is almost 50 years before the NFL was founded in 1920.  There are hundreds of college teams to choose from and discover their history as opposed to the 32 in the NFL, which includes numerous expansion teams in recent memory.

Advantage: NCAA.

Stadiums

This point comes down to your preference rather than factual information.  Are you one that loves the history of a stadium or would you rather a corporate municipal type stadium.  The NFL stadiums have more comfortable seats, bigger aisles, HD monitors and are newer.  College stadiums have hard bleachers, skinny aisles and are less fan friendly.  However, the college stadiums are much more unique with tons of history.  You will not see that with NFL stadiums.

Advantage: NFL.  (NCAA would have huge advantage if stadium seats were stripped to be all chair backs).

Play Calling



Do you see this in the NFL?



The NFL is considered to be a copy cat league, while college football is constantly changing its play calling.  In the NFL you see mostly the same thing – an ace backfield, 3 wideouts, a tight end.  Sometimes you see this same variation in a shotgun.  There is absolutely no variation at all.  At the college level and you can see all kinds of variation.  Like running football?  There is the power option at Georgia Tech.  Like a fast paced spread option?  Look at Auburn and Oregon.  Like to see a lot of passing?  Go to Oklahoma St and Texas Tech.  Like an I-formation?  They run that at Alabama.  Like the pistol?  Arkansas runs that.  Like a balanced attack?  That is what Oklahoma runs.  College football is the total opposite of a copy cat league, teams are constantly thinking of new ways to attack.  The NFL is constantly stealing ideas from college – where do you think the Wildcat came from?

Huge Advantage: NCAA.

Fans

Uh oh NFL fans, we have another category here that is favoring the college game.  This one is a landslide.  NFL stadiums are filled with white collar corporate people who are afraid to make noise at a game.  At college games, half the stadium is filled with college students.  There are two, not just one, two stadiums with the nickname with Death Valley.  They have a stadium named for their “12^th Man.”  Kansas City is the only city in the NFL that can come close to this, but there are multiple college stadiums like this.

Huge Advantage: NCAA.

Players

Finally, the NFL has a huge advantage.  The NFL boasts the best football players in the world and it’s pretty deep as there are only 32 teams.  Compare this with the 100+ teams in college football with a high turnover rate, the NFL wins this easily.  The only thing you can say about these future accountants, insurance salesmen, etc is they really play with a passion that is unparalleled in the NFL.

Huge Advantage: NFL.

Rivalries



The Iron Bowl is one of the
top rivalries in Sports



Top rivalries in NFL include Steelers-Ravens (Browns), Cowboys-Redskins.  These games have included some of the best players that have ever played and some of the best games ever played at the NFL level.  However, college boasts Auburn-Alabama (Iron Bowl), Texas-Oklahoma (Red River Rivalry), Florida-Georgia (World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party), etc.  These games not only have the history that the NFL games have, but most of these games are played with a National Championship or major bowl game on the line.  The NFL games never have that level of intensity unless they are in the playoffs.

Advantage: NCAA.

Playoffs

This is one we could look back on in a few years and flip the scripts here.  College football currently has one of the most corrupt and wrong ways to determine a national champion – a “computer”.  The best two teams based on these rankings play for the title game.  This can lead to controversy (see 2005: Auburn going undefeated and being left out).  However, in 2 years they will create a 4 team playoff, which I think eventually gets to be an 8 or 16 team playoff and watch out.  That would be runner up to March Madness in terms of a playoff system.  But anyways, right now the NFL has the best playoff system going.  12 teams make it, single elimination – win and move on.

Huge Advantage: NFL.

TV

Without ordering NFL Sunday ticket you can only watch possibly 4-5 games a week with the NFL.  This is totally not the case with college football.  Not only do you not need to order a special package but there are always 3-4 games on National TV at each time slot on Saturday.  One game is a blowout, no need to worry, just switch to the other.  You don’t have this luxury with the NFL as you are just stuck with whatever game CBS/Fox decides to air for you.  Oh, did I mention college football is literally on ESPN every day of the week besides Sunday and Monday.

Huge Advantage: NCAA.

Overall

I think its pretty clear to me what the better game is – NCAA.  5-3 in favor of the “amateurs”.  The passion, history, uniqueness make the college game a far better game.  See you on Saturday.  War Eagle all Day.

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My All-American Teams & Player of the Year

It is that time, The 1^st Annual Prestigious The Truth Boston Blog’s All American and Player of the Year (I guess we can think of a better name at some point).  I had done a midseason All-American team earlier and I think it’s a good time for the end of the year awards.

The Player of the Year Award was the most difficult for me, as I think Thomas Robinson and Anthony Davis both are very deserving for this.  However, I look at overall team success this year and Kentucky was better during the regular season.  In fact, both Kentucky and Kansas played earlier in the season and Kentucky won.  I’ve done a lot of blogging lately, so I am going to be lazy here and just posts stats next to their names.  Feel free to debate in the c-section.

POY – Anthony Davis

1^st Team:

G: Kendall Marshall                8.2 pts, 9.8 asts, 2.6 rbs

G: Damian Lillard                   24.5 pts, 4 asts, 5 rbs, 1.5 stls

F: Draymond Green                16.2 pts, 10.2 rbs, 1.5 stls

F: Thomas Robinson               17.9 pts, 11.8 rbs, 1 blk

F: Anthony Davis                   14.3 pts, 10.1 rbs, 4.6 blks, 1.3 stls

2^nd Team:

G: Isaiah Canaan                     19.2 pts, 3.3 rbs, 3.7 asts. 1.4 stls

F: Doug McDermott               23.2 pts, 8.2 rbs, 49% 3pt                  

F: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist       12.0 pts, 7.6 rbs, 2 asts

F: Jared Sullinger                    17.6 pts, 9.3 rbs

C: Tyler Zeller                         16.5 pts, 9.3 rbs, 1.3 blks

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My Take on Harrison Barnes

It is the Final Four, but with Harrison Barnes, John Henson, and Kendall Marshall all declaring for the draft I thought I would give my opinion on Barnes.  First let me say as an anti-UNC fan I love that he is going pro, but as a college basketball and NBA fan, I am disappointed.  Barnes is one of the most talented guys in college basketball, hence why Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him going in the top 10 of every mock draft he does.  But to me there is so much more than that.

Harrison Barnes is a guy who to me suffers from the same thing LeBron James does, except for that whole destroying a city on national TV thing.  As a fan, we see these guys and all their talent and think, man I wish they played with more passion and desire.  You then look at someone like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and can’t help but imagine Barnes playing like him, with the passion, desire to win, and just to play the game with a reckless abandon.  But some guys aren’t wired like that; it’s just unfortunate they aren’t.

Part of me wonders whether the hype of him coming into college had something to do with it.  If college basketball writers didn’t name him a preseason First Team All-American as a freshman, would he be in a better position than he is now?  Who knows, really?  I remember when he was in high school and he had a typical signing day for an elite athlete (that is if you consider a typical signing day to include being on national TV), but then he wanted to be a little different, a little unique, so he Skyped in Coach Roy Williams to declare he would play for UNC.  As I would later learn, this was probably based on bad advice, because watching Barnes in college I realized he’s just a guy who seems like he just wants to fit in, rather than stand out.

You look at Barnes’ numbers this year and you see 17.1 points a game, 5.2 rebounds a game on a team that went 32-6.  You see that and you think wow, this kid is special.  Which is true, he is special, which is why I demand even more out of him.  In the game against Kansas in the Elite 8, the Tar Heels' offense went cold against the zone in the final 5 minutes, making two of their final 13 shots, including eight straight misses to end the game.  If you are truly that special, you take over the game and you don’t allow that kind of thing  to happen, Barnes went 0-3 from the floor in those final minutes and scored 1 point.  That is what kills me, because he has the ability to demand the ball, get to the rim, get fouled and take control of the game, but he just doesn’t. 

By all accounts, he is a great kid that works really hard, but maybe that is also his downfall, he’s too nice.  Maybe he will figure this out in the NBA.  But a lasting image of LeBron passing out of late game shots always comes back to me as a comparison for Barnes.  I hope I’m wrong.

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The Best Final Four Ever?

Could we have a better Final Four than the one we have this weekend?  This is going to be awesome!  Not only is my favorite team (Kansas) in it, but we have 4 of the top ten programs of all time in it.  There is no mid major this year, which is fitting because New Orleans does everything big.  Big rivalries, big men, big games, everything is big.

Most everyone is talking about the Kentucky-Louisville game, and rightfully so.  You don’t get bigger rivalries than those two.  There have already been fights among the fans and I would expect a lot more.  These guys literally hate each other.  You also have two of the biggest coaching personalities out there with Rick Pitino and John Calipari.  Both coaches have have strong connections at UMass, both have tried (and failed) at the NBA, and both have coached at Kentucky. 

So getting into the game itself, Kentucky should win handily based on talent alone, with Unibrow (Anthony Davis), MKG, Terrance Jones, and 3-4 other NBA players they can role out there.  However, this is a rivalry game and Louisville is as hot as any team in the country (see UConn last year).  Their matchup 2-3 zone (a Ralph Willard – Holy Cross staple) has given teams fits this year.  They are finally healthy and Peyton Siva is making a ton of plays.  But when it

comes down to it, I can’t pick against Kentucky (mostly because of the Unibrow) in this game.  My pick: Kentucky 78-65.

  Now let’s get to the game that I am really more concerned about, Kansas and Ohio State.  These teams played back in December with Kansas taking it 78-67, but all you will hear about that game is that Jared Sullinger did not suit up for it (was he ducking it to avoid Thomas Robinson?)  But people forget that Tyshawn Taylor has surgery the next day for a torn MCL and meniscus, and he still had 13 assists in that game.  Jeff Withey wasn’t nearly the player he is now and don’t even get me started on Elijah Johnson.  EJ is currently playing the best basketball for the Jayhawks, who is going to defend him?  William No-Show Buford?  The funny thing about this game is that both teams were actually better last year and didn’t make it this far, its weird sometimes how March works.  The key to this matchup will be foul trouble and who matches up on who.  Both teams have zero depth, especially for the bigs.  If Withey is matched up against Sullinger and Deshawn Thomas is matched up with Robinson, I will take Kansas every single time.  If T-Rob and Sullinger are matched up against each other down low, it could be a toss up because both guys could get in foul trouble.  This will be a tight one, but I will go with Kansas 72-63.

Now if you have been reading this blog for a while now, you will remember I predicted this back on February 13.  I think a Kansas-Kentucky final would be everything a college basketball fan could want.  Two of the biggest fan bases, storied histories, elite coaches, and exceptional talent.  This is going to be a fun ride in New Orleans and it begins Saturday night.  The best playoff could possibly have the best ending ever, let’s just hope the Superdome is ready.

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Jayhawks Prevail Over Former Coach (Again)

Anyone who knows me knows this weekend was about as good as it gets from a basketball perspective for me.  The other two bloggers on this site happen to be UNC fans, yeah I know – I am not sure why or how, but I happen to be a big Kansas fan and yesterday my Jayhawks whooped the Tarheels.  To give you a little background, in case you don’t know, Roy Williams was the coach of Kansas until 2003 where he left to go coach UNC.  Well to say us Jayhawk fans were upset would be an understatement, we are in the top 3 winningest program in the country, so we don’t consider our program to be a stepping stone for anyone.  But then maybe the best thing could have happened; Kansas hired an up and coming star in Coach Bill Self.  In their very first matchup against each other, Coach Self and Former Coach Roy Williams matched up in the Final Four in 2008, Kansas ended up winning that (this will become a pattern) en route to a Championship that year.

This brings us to this past weekend where those same two coaches matched up again, only one player remains from that original match up, former walk-on redshirt senior Connor Teahan.  The first half was like a great boxing match, Kansas would go on a quick strike for 6 unanswered points, then UNC would answer back with a 8-0 run of their own.  The first half was played at such a high level, it was no wonder there were so many NBA scouts in attendance.  After 20 minutes, they were knotted up at 47 all.

Surprisingly I was confident going into the half tied up, because I was extremely happy with the offense I saw the Jayhawks display and I knew Kansas would start to clamp down on defense (something I felt UNC couldn’t do).  Well, this didn’t happen soon enough for me as both teams continued to exchange little 4 or 6 point runs and the score stayed even for much of the second half.  But then, Coach Self went back to their rarely used Triangle and Two defense, the same one that eventually slowed down Robbie Hummel and Purdue in the round of 32.

Once this defense was installed, UNC had no answer.  Kansas collapsed into to the paint, allowing no penetration or scoring by the Tar Heel big men.  UNC then settled for 3 pointers (11% for the game) and mid range jump shots (22% in 2nd half) and Kansas finished the game on a 13-0 run.  Even though I almost had a heart attack, that Kansas defense finally showed up.

This Kansas team is led by All American Thomas Robinson and streaky point guard Tyshawn Taylor and those two were the reasons that Kansas is moving on to the Big Easy for a chance to cut down the nets once again.  Robinson had a typical T-Rob day, with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while TT had 22 points.  No one would have expected this at the beginning of the season when the Jayhawks only returned one starter and depended heavily on a guy who only played 14 minutes a game last year.  Everyone else barely even cracked the rotation last year.  Bill Self probably said it best after the game, “This would have been a year, if we got to the second weekend (of the tournament), most Kansas fans would be happy. But that's not how those guys think.  They think this is their year, and I'm certainly not going to tell them anything different.” 

Now my Jayhawks are only 2 wins away from doing the improbable.  It will be a very tough road as they have to go through Ohio State, who just dismantled a very good Syracuse squad and likely a Kentucky team that may have 7 pros on its team.  But, this is March so anything could happen, who would have expected them to get this far.  Why not us?

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Family Over Everything

#RockChalkJayhawk

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Kansas-UNC: The Battle of Two Unique Styles

So I know it has been a while since I last blogged, and I know you missed it.  Well I am back by popular demand.  So I am going to preview one of the best days that a college basketball fan can have.  As you may or may not know, I am a huge Kansas fan and today my Jayhawks go up against some team that a few of my friends support, North Carolina.  Now not only is this is a big day for me, because I just despise the Tar Heels, but it is a big day for all Jayhawk fans because Roy Williams is going up against his old team.

In 2008, Kansas went through UNC and Roy in the final 4, this year they are playing for a trip to the final 4.  2008 was also the year Kansas brought the title back to Lawrence, maybe it is only fitting that they have to go through UNC again this year?  Does that mean another title in my future?  I sure hope so.

The only negative thing about this game is that All-American point guard Kendall Marshall has a fractured wrist for the Tar Heels; I can already hear the excuses coming from their fans.  Who is to say Kansas wouldn’t win even with Kendall?  Yes, I get that Kendall is important to the Heels, is that because he is that good, or just because they didn’t recruit another point guard?  If Tyshawn Taylor went down for Kansas, EJ would just slide over to the point guard spot and Connor Teahan would move into the starting lineup.  That would be ok with me.  If Thomas Robinson went down (arguably the most important player in college bball) then the Jayhawks would just slide in Kevin Young.  I wouldn’t make the excuse, I would just tip my cap.  The Heels have plenty of talent with Barnes, Henson, Zeller, Bullock and McAdoo, if they really are the better team we will find out today.

This matchup will be one of my all-time favorites because it displays two very unique styles, the Jayhawks play very physical defense, while the Tar Heels are all offense (and Henson).  We have already seen in last night’s games, physical defenses (see – Louisville & Ohio St) have advanced to the Final Four.  Today, Kansas and Kentucky play very physical defense, while Baylor and UNC don’t and rely more on their athleticism, which is why I am picking the two K schools to advance.  I can’t wait for today and I hope you are excited too.

I will leave you with this video to get you excited for today:

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IONA IS GOING DANCING

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES !

The committee answered my prayers this evening. Iona is in the tourney. First up is BYU in a play-in game in Dayton, OH. Winner plays Marquette.

I love all the analysts hating on Iona for getting in, saying Drexel should have been in blah blah blah. If Iona scheduled all their games against middle school basketball teams they could have had the 25 game win streak or whatever it was, also. Iona is the first MAAC team to get an at-large bid in 17 years.

I'm so jacked up right now. Only 48 more hours. Tuesday night cant come soon enough.

Now, I gotta go check and see if I get truTV...

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#IonaDeservesaNCAABid

Well, today is the day I have been waiting for since last sunday when Iona suffered a terrible loss to Fairfield in the MAAC tourney. Currently, Joe Lunardi has them in the first four out. Earlier this week they were in the next four out, so we have made some progress up the board. Xavier needs to get a win today to prevent St. Bonaventure from potentially bursting Iona's bubble.

We will find out on the NCAA Selection Show tonight at 6pm. I hope the committee gives them a chance, but they also didnt take care of business when it mattered most - so I can see them as a top seed in the NIT as well.

Come on NCAA committee, give me a chance. They havent been in the tourney since 2006, got shutout each year I was in school. Please.

#IonaDeservesaNCAABid

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Is It Going to be An All Blue Final?

We are about a month away from the greatest event in all of sports.  No it’s not that thing that just happened that none of us will blog about, it is the NCAA Tournament.  You have 64 68 teams all fighting for the same goal, to cut down the nets in early April.  Obviously if you are a 16 seed, realistically you don’t have a shot, but just looking back at last year you had a Final Four matchup of 12^th seeded (and first 4) VCU and 9^th seeded Butler.  Before the season there was all this talk about the power conferences are back, but guess what, unless you have been under a rock this year, it’s the year of the mid-major and Kentucky.  With all these powerful sophomores in Perry Jones III, Terrance Jones, Jeremy Lamb, and Harrison Barnes all returning to campus, the blue bloods were supposed to be back.  Instead who do you have in the top 25? Creighton, UNLV, San Diego St, Murray St, Wichita St, Gonzaga, Harvard, and St Mary’s are there rather than expected powers of UConn, Texas, Vanderbilt, Villanova, and Pittsburgh.  So if there was ever a time for a 16 to beat a 1 seed, it would be this year.

Right now, every team is vulnerable and every team has weaknesses.  Just look at some of these home losses that should never happen at home, UNC to Duke, Ohio St to Michigan St, Murray St to Tennessee St, Creighton to Wichita St, Florida to Tennessee.  That was all in the last week, CRAZY!  What is going to happen in March on neutral floors, I can’t wait.

Now when I say every team has weaknesses, let’s just exclude one team, Kentucky.  This team is loaded, like my god are there freaks just all over the court for them.  When in doubt, throw a lob to Anthony Davis and he will dunk it.  Fear the Unibrow.  Their one weakness, Marquis Teague is all of a sudden turning into a legit threat as well.  In his last 2 games, he is scoring 12.5 points and dishing out 9 assists per game.  I haven’t even mentioned the most clutch three point shooter in Ray Allen Doron Lamb for the Cats, he is shooting almost 50% from 3 and just has a knack for hitting daggers against teams.  I don’t need to say anything about Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, for more on him click here.

Now after Kentucky, my prediction for the Final Four is a crap shoot.  Everyone knows March is all about matchups, so until you see the bracket you have no idea who is going to actually get there.  Even then you might as well pick like most girls do, by mascot name, the colors, or “Hey I know someone who went there.”  But you know what, I am going to give another prediction on my Final Four (read the original here), since it clearly seems like Baylor isn’t making a run for it with how lackluster Perry Jones III and company play that zone defense (if you want to call it that).

The safest bet I have to a sure thing after Kentucky is Kansas.  Oh yeah, that’s right, my boys from Lawrence.  The Jayhawks now have 3 legitimate options on offense in POY front runner Thomas Robinson, the mostly up Tyshawn Taylor and wait for it, wait for it, oh yeah it's Jeff Withey.  That three headed monster is unstoppable right now and the real x-factor isn’t Taylor or T-Rob, it's the tall lanky transfer from Arizona Withey.  If we exclude the Missouri game (which I am going to do to skew my argument) he has scored 10, 15, 25 and 18 points in his last 4 games and has 8.25 rebounds per game including the monster 20 rebound, 7 block, and 18 point game against Oklahoma St on Saturday.  Can you imagine that 7 foot monster in the tourney?  I sure can’t wait for it.

Everything else is a crap shoot.  Syracuse, Duke, Michigan St, Ohio St, Missouri, Baylor, UNLV, and UNC all have issues and I have to pick two more teams.  I know for sure I am not going with Duke or UNC and a lot of that has to do with the lack of toughness that either team has shown this year.  If you are UNC, how do you blow that lead at home to Duke and that is on top of a 33 point loss at the hands of team that lost to Boston College in Florida St.  Yeah, I’ll wait while you wrap your heads around that one for a second.  I’ll say it again, UNC lost by 33 points to Florida St who has lost to Boston College.  If we go by that logic, Boston College lost to Holy Cross by 22 and beat Florida St by 4, soooo that means Holy Cross could beat UNC by 59.  That doesn’t sound like a Final Four team to me.  And because Tyler Zeller routinely scores for the other team.  Duke, well to steal Mark Titus’ line has Austin Rivers’ Punchable Face and a few other guys that aren’t very athletic, that is always Duke’s problems when they cant advance in the tourney.  I will cross these two teams off my list.

The leaves me with a few obvious options in Syracuse and Ohio St to make the Final Four, but you know how March is, you just never know.  The Orange scare me because they don’t have a go-to scorer that you need in March to be successful and Ohio St is too injury prone for me.  We also all know March is crazy and relies on great guard play.  Guess who that leaves me with?  You guessed it, UNLV and Missouri.  I will start with Missouri.  It pains me to put two of my least favorite teams in college basketball with Kentucky and Missouri (I will never call them Mizzou – gross).  But my god, this team reminds me a lot of that 4 guard offense that Villanova had.  They have 5 legitimate scorers that can go off at any time.  Phil (Flip) Pressey is just unbelievable and is easily a top 5 point guard in America, youtube him if you haven’t seen him (okay I will make it easy for you - a link to Phil Pressey is here).  Marcus Denmon has Jimmer range and has serious guts.  I guess I could also mention that Ricardo Ratliff is shooting 74% from the field, yeah he is about to break an NCAA record for field goal percentage, no big deal. 

Moving on to UNLV, all I have to say is MIKE MOSER.  The UCLA transfer is just an absolute animal, just gets after it.  He is averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds right now and can light it up from 3 as well.  The Runnin’ Rebels are back.  If anyone thinks I’m crazy for putting them in, the Mountain West is probably a 3 or 4 bid league while the Pac-12 is a 1 or 2 bid league for the tourney.  This league is loaded with SDSU, UNLV, New Mexico and Colorado St.  I have nothing else to say on UNLV because you have probably quit reading this post by now anyways so I am just rambling to myself.

Anyways, it’s tough to leave out my sleeper of every year, Marquette.  They will continue to be my sleeper this year, Buzz Williams has got them rolling.  DJO is about as good as it gets from a guard in college ball and is as tough as they get.  I would also look to Wichita St, Saint Mary’s, and Florida come tourney time.  Now that football season is over, I hope you get out and enjoy the last month before the greatest event in sports.

-The Boss

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Final Four and More...

Watching these college bowls has me thinking about how much better college basketball has it, they actually have a playoff.  So because it’s never too early to talk about March, I am going to give you my early early Final Four picks and All-Americans.  Obviously I can’t tell you the actual Final Four yet because more than one of my picks could be in the same region.  Just note, I don’t necessarily think these are the best four teams yet, but by March they will have what it takes to make a long run.  So without further ado:

The easiest lock of the century: Kentucky.  What can I say about this team?  They have it all.  Shot blocker (Anthony Davis), guard/wing player who can create his own shot (Michael Kidd-Gilchrist), deadly 3 point shooter (Doron Lamb), glue guy (Darius Miller), a two guys who have the potential to be fantastic (Marquis Teague and Terrence Jones).  All of those guys are NBA guys.  Did I mention that they play great defense too?  The difference between this team and past Kentucky teams, this team can shoot to go along with their extreme athleticism.

The most slept on undefeated team: Baylor.  Man this is killing me to pick a member of the Big 12 not named Kansas to make the Final Four after already picking Kentucky.  But I don’t think even I can deny how great this Baylor team is.  They have such great length and shoot at such a high percentage.  They have possibly the number 1 pick in the NBA draft in Perry Jones III.  Two guys who can light it up from 3 in Pierre Jackson and Brady Heslip.  The biggest thing about them though is how deep they are.  They have 5 guys who score in double figures every game and 11 guys average over 10 minutes a game (that’s almost the whole team).  Look at this team to really dominate Big 12 play and cruise in March.

My two other teams: Marquette and Ohio State.  Both teams have a lot of similarities to me.  Both teams play great defense and are extremely tough.  Both teams are led by a great guard (Darius Johnson-Odom for Marquette and William Buford for Ohio St) and a great big guy (Jae Crowder for Marquette and Jared Sullinger for Ohio St).  Both teams have underrated coaches with Thad Matta of OSU and Buzz Williams for the Golden Eagles.  The one thing that puts these two just below Kentucky and Baylor is their 3-point shooting.  But, both teams are so efficient from two that it almost doesn’t matter.

Sleepers: Georgetown, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri.

All-Americans:

1^st Team

Guards: Jeremy Lamb (Uconn), William Buford (Ohio St)

Forwards: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky), Thomas Robinson (Kanas)

Center: Jared Sullinger (Ohio St)

2^nd Team

Guards: Scott Machado (Iona), Darius Johnson-Odom (Marquette)

Forwards: Doug McDermott (Creighton), Harrison Barnes (UNC)

Center: Anthony Davis (Kentucky)

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The Best Sports Events of 2011

To say 2011 was an eventful, newsworthy year for sports would be an understatement.  From the disgusting, mind numbing actions at Penn State and Syracuse to the championships of the Bruins, UConn, and Auburn.  We here at The Truth have put together a list of our top 5 sports events of 2011.  Now, these are our favorite events, not necessarily the most newsworthy.  Leave your thoughts and opinions and give your own top 5.  Also, we really appreciate you checking out the blog and will continue to deliver entertaining and informative posts.  Any ideas on posts or guest posts are more than welcome.  Without further ado let’s get to the fun.

Dan: Dan-o starts it up with a mostly video top 5.

5. LeBron Loses

Anytime Lebron loses in the finals after his "Not 1, Not 2, Not 3...." speech it is a great moment.

4. Uconn Wins

Hey, I might not be the biggest UConn fan, but it isn't because I don't like them. They are a New England team and I can respect that. Go Huskies!!

3. Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is one of my favorite sporting events every year. Betting on the winning horse always makes it better but win or lose there probably isn't another sporting event that gives you this type of atmosphere and lets you cheer for who you want year in and year out. Obviously a Boston team playing for their championship like the Bruins in the Cup or the Patriots in the Super Bowl is a different story, but that doesn't happen every year. The Derby does, and every year it is different horses and every year you get to the find the horse you want to root for. Maybe you are a person who actually places bets and you like the horse's pedigree and chance to win or maybe you are just a casual fan and you like his story, you like why it has a certain name, you like who owns it, you like their colors etc. Every person can find a horse they like and every year Churchill Downs brings you the same exact stadium rocking atmosphere. This year we saw Animal Kingdom walk away as the winner, jockey John Velazquez who is one of the most respected jockeys in the sport got his first Derby win, who only got to ride Animal Kingdom because the main jockey Robby Alberado was hurt earlier in the week, a good story.

2. Patriots Continue Their Success and Bobby Kraft Ends the Lockout

Although we haven't won the Super Bowl the last few years the Patriots continue to give us something to cheer for year in and year out and that is something to be thankful for. We have fallen short in the last month of the season the last couple of years but for the other 16-18 weeks of the season the Patriots at least allow us to root for another Super Bowl chance each year and that is a lot more than most teams can say.

However, that isn't the biggest success of the New England Patriot's this year. Robert Kraft the best owner in professional sports who is responsible for the reason we now have 3 Super Bowls and a successful football organization that we can be proud of helped the NFL dig itself out of the darkest days of the league and end the lockout. Because of Robert Kraft, his wife and his influence he has within the league he helped bridge the gap between the owners and players and is the reason we get to witness one of the most exciting week 16's in NFL football history tomorrow on New Year’s Day and why our Patriots are in position for another Super Bowl.  Thank you Robert, thank you Myra and thank you to the entire Kraft family.

1. B's win cup


If this isn't your top moment of 2011 get outta here!! Hit it..

V:  Below are Matty V’s top 5 stories of 2011.

5 - Iona gets upset in MAAC tourney title game:  This wasn’t a big surprise because they were such a young team last season. The bigger surprise was it wasn’t an Iona vs. Fairfield matchup like everyone predicted. Iona did its work in the tourney, but they ran into a hot St. Peter’s team at the time. With another year of experience under their belt and the addition of Momo Jones, 2012 looks promising for the Gaels.

4 - Pats acquire Ochocinco and Hanyesworth:  These types of acquisitions usually benefit the Patriots well.  We saw how Corey Dillon changed when he got here, we saw the Randy Moss of old come out in a Patriots uniform. Ocho and Hanyesworth haven’t panned out; they weren’t loud mouths or distractions like they have been with former teams.  Ocho is my boy. I will never hate on the guy.

Everybody else can hate all they want and say he sucks. He has not contributed a whole lot but he also hasn’t said a word to the media or anyone for that matter. Say what you want, idiots, but he will contribute to this team in the playoffs.

Hanyesworth came here fat and out of shape, plain and simple.  He sucked.  Couldn’t get on the field because Kyle Love was/is more dynamic than fat Albert is.  Once Brandon Deaderick got healthy and Gerard Warren started to contribute, Haynesworth was out the door. The move was a low-risk high-reward moved that just did not work out.

3 -The Red Sox Collapse: Everybody talks about the Yankees blowing the 3-0 lead to the Sox in 2004. I think this was worse. No words can describe this. Disgusting.  Flat out disgusting. This makes me never want to have fried chicken and Bud Light ever again.

2 - Robert Kraft single handedly end the NFL lockout:  This man is by far the most respected owner in the league. The man loses his beloved wife and has hated rivals giving him hugs on national television. The impact the Myra has on this organization makes you think that this was her way of saying “shut up and just play football.” We are extremely lucky to have an owner like Robert Kraft for our hometown team. Let’s go win the Super Bowl for MHK.

1 - Bruins Stanley Cup Victory: 

If you’re from Boston and love Boston sports, you are insane if this isn't #1 on your list. This is big for me to have this as #1 because we all know I’m not the biggest hockey fan. This team was special. I mean, they have to be extremely special to get me to tune in and watch on a nightly basis. From the experience of Recchi, to the excitement of Segs and Marshmont, this team had it all. The scary part is they are even better this year. This isn't a hockey team, it's a gang of brothers. Hockey wasn't like this a few years ago in Boston. Times have certainly changed.

Matt:

This was one of the hardest things to come up with.  My top 2 were easy choices, however I feel like I will make some Bruins fans a little upset with the order of the top 2.  I won’t ramble anymore, here is my top 5:

Honorable Mention:  Butler back in the NCAA championship, Brandon Bass trade, Heat Lose in NBA Finals

5 - Red Sox Collapse:  Before people say “Hey, Hey, Hey, that’s not a positive story for 2011,” let me explain.  This Red Sox team was flawed, even when healthy they were never the best team ever, as the Boston Herald proclaimed.  This team was never going to win a World Series, so this collapse expedited some of the changes that needed to happen. This team got boring to watch and very complacent.  Listen, I loved Francona as much as the next guy but he needed to go, Theo was missing on a lot of free agents of late, and players such as Wakefield and Varitek wore out their welcome.  My view is, after about 10 years, management becomes ineffective and needs new blood, and with this collapse that new blood is now in charge.  Here is to hoping that new blood will help turn around a stale franchise and lead us to really be the best team ever.

4 – Basketball is Back:  Everyone knows, basketball is my favorite sport – both college and the NBA.  I hated the lock out probably more than most; however it turned out to be a positive for both the NBA and NCAA.  First, college basketball had more players return for another year from the likes of Thomas Robinson to Doron Lamb, from Perry Jones III to Harrison Barnes, and from Jared Sullinger to Jeremy Lamb.  When all these guys stay, it leads to a better product for college basketball and you have seen that with so many exciting games already.  Moving on to the NBA, obviously the lockout being lifted means I get to see my beloved Celtics with the Big 4 one more year.  Also, if there was still a lockout you wouldn’t be able to see LeBron take 4^th quarters off like last year.  Besides the Celtics, watching Kevin Durant and the Thunder will be my favorite team to watch this year.  Let’s hope this year’s playoffs are just like 2011’s.

3 – Records Fall:  I’m only going to talk about Ray Allen breaking the career 3 point record and Rob Gronkowski breaking the touchdown record for a tight end, because well, I don’t really care about Drew Brees.  To watch Gronk this year is just amazing.  Gronk cannot be tackled by just one guy, and sometimes two guys aren’t even enough.  He is such a match up nightmare, especially in the red zone where safeties and corners are too small while linebackers are too slow to cover him.  It really is exciting every time he touches the ball.  “Me catch ball, me score touchdown, me spike ball hard.”  Moving on to one of the best pure shooters I have ever seen, Ray Allen.  Watching him shoot the ball is just a thing of beauty, I could not be happier to see him break Reggie Miller’s record especially against the Lakers at home with Reggie Miller in attendance.  You could not have written a better script for that record to fall.

2 – Bruins win the Stanley Cup:  I’m sorry Boston, hockey is just my least favorite sport.  I will admit I was blown away by how exciting playoff hockey was.  Tim Thomas really was unbelievable and single handily kept the Bruins in many games.  Then to watch Krejci, Lucic, Bergeron, Seguin, Chara, Seidenberg, and Marchand step up throughout the playoffs was special.  You can tell this team really loves playing together and should be exciting for years to come.

1 – Auburn wins National Championship:  Let me start by saying this – WAR EAGLE!!  What a season this team had.  From all the controversy and trashing of Cam Newton, it was unbelievable to see this team fight through it all and win the National Championship.  Lots of people were picking the high flying Oregon Ducks to win, but Auburn showed why they were the best team all year.  From the likes of Cam, Michael Dyer, Nick Fairley, Onterio McCalebb, Josh Bynes, and Darvin Adams, this was just an amazing season.  With how good Cam was, you could basically tell the defense what play they were running and they would still get positive yards.  Beating Oregon, Alabama, LSU, Arkansas, Georgia, and South Carolina (twice) really just shows how strong this Auburn team was.  War Eagle all day.

Again, thanks for checking the blog and we hope that 2012 will continue to be a very fun and exciting year.  Check for our bold predictions for 2012 coming Monday or Tuesday. 

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