AP Top 25, Part 1 (of 7 or 8. Ish)
The Associated Press released its initial Top 25 today, and with the season set to tip off in mere hours in College Park, Md., it's high time I got the ball rolling with my season preview. In the long-standing (ahem!) tradition of 19'9", I'll take the Top 25, three at time, one post per day for the next week or so. It's not going to be a comprehensive preview; just one or two observations on each team off the top of my head.
1. Florida Before you hand the national championship to the Gators, as everyone seems so anxious to do (UF does, after all, return the top eight players from last year's title team), I implore you to look at last year's schedule. Among their regular season victories, only two -- at LSU and at Kentucky -- look like the work of a national champion, and even those are a bit misleading; Kentucky wasn't Kentucky last year, and the LSU victory only impresses because the Tigers, like the Gators, were surprise participants in the Final Four.
Florida's signature victory came in the Minneapolis regional final against Villanova, and it should be noted that with it's four-guard lineup, that Wildcat team was unlike any top seed in recent memory, and simply wasn't built to beat a team like the brawny Gators. Once Florida arrived in the semifinals, they didn't have to worry about heavy favorites Connecticut or Duke -- they got George Mason and a young UCLA team instead.
I say this not to diminish the accomplishments of Billy Donovan's bunch, but rather to point out that, as roads to the national championship go, there are few easier than the one the Gators took to center stage in Indianapolis.
It doesn't feel right to say that a defending national champion that returns all five of its starters and nearly every key bench player is unproven, but no one was talking about this Florida team as a championship contender on the eve of the tournament. There's still plenty left to prove in Gainesville.
2. North Carolina Of the nine players who saw the court in Carolina's 83-76 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium near the end of last season, four were freshmen. If you want to bet against that group now that they've added a recruiting class that includes three players who were ranked No. 1 at their positions, by all means, go right ahead.
There wasn't a player in America I enjoyed watching more last year than power forward Tyler Hansbrough. By and large, I'm a guard-oriented kind of guy, but every once in a while, a big man comes along who takes over games with rugged, inspired play on the blocks, and it gets my attention. Hansbrough is that type of player.
Hansbrough became the first freshman in Carolina history to lead the team in scoring, with nearly 19 points per game. But one game -- the aforementioned Saturday night in Durham -- sums up what I love about this kid. On the season's biggest stage, in the toughest gym in the nation, against the reigning defensive player of the year (Shelden Williams, who the Atlanta Hawks would make the fifth overall pick in the draft that summer), Hansbrough had his best game of the year, tallying 27 points and 10 rebounds. He also averaged 24.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two games against Boston College and their standout Craig Smith, and went to the line 21 times in two meetings against N.C. State and Cedric Simmons, a first-round NBA draft pick.
With Williams, Simmons, and Smith all gone, the ACC is relatively free of quality big men. With the lane opened up, and with more weapons around him, Hansbrough is primed for an even bigger year -- one that should end with national player of the year honors.
3. Kansas A second straight first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament has Kansas on the verge of becoming one of those teams that casual fans associate with post-season disappointment.
It should be noted, however, that the current crop of Jayhawks is responsible for only one of those failures, last year's 77-73 loss at the hands of the Bradley Braves. When we further point out that Bill Self's young club nearly came all the way back from a 14-point second half deficit, and it doesn't seem so bad, does it? A reasonable inference is that Kansas, without a veteran leader, simply took a little while -- a little more than a half, say -- to get used to the pressure of being a heavy favorite in an NCAA tournament game.
This Kansas team is talented. Few freshman wings last year looked as polished with the ball as Brandon Rush, and Mario Chalmers -- once he became comfortable -- and Russell Robinson form a strong backcout. Incoming freshman Darrell Arthur will allow Julian Wright to play more minutes at small forward, which is supposed to be a good thing.
I remain unconvinced. I didn't see Wright play in high school, but what I did see of him last year did not suggest that the three is his natural position. He looked ragged and uncomfortable facing the basket and putting the ball on the floor, and didn't step outside for long jumpers the way we've come to expect from a swingman at a major program.
If -- and only if -- the highly-touted Wright is as advertised, then this lofty ranking may be justified.
1. Florida Before you hand the national championship to the Gators, as everyone seems so anxious to do (UF does, after all, return the top eight players from last year's title team), I implore you to look at last year's schedule. Among their regular season victories, only two -- at LSU and at Kentucky -- look like the work of a national champion, and even those are a bit misleading; Kentucky wasn't Kentucky last year, and the LSU victory only impresses because the Tigers, like the Gators, were surprise participants in the Final Four.
Florida's signature victory came in the Minneapolis regional final against Villanova, and it should be noted that with it's four-guard lineup, that Wildcat team was unlike any top seed in recent memory, and simply wasn't built to beat a team like the brawny Gators. Once Florida arrived in the semifinals, they didn't have to worry about heavy favorites Connecticut or Duke -- they got George Mason and a young UCLA team instead.
I say this not to diminish the accomplishments of Billy Donovan's bunch, but rather to point out that, as roads to the national championship go, there are few easier than the one the Gators took to center stage in Indianapolis.
It doesn't feel right to say that a defending national champion that returns all five of its starters and nearly every key bench player is unproven, but no one was talking about this Florida team as a championship contender on the eve of the tournament. There's still plenty left to prove in Gainesville.
2. North Carolina Of the nine players who saw the court in Carolina's 83-76 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium near the end of last season, four were freshmen. If you want to bet against that group now that they've added a recruiting class that includes three players who were ranked No. 1 at their positions, by all means, go right ahead.
There wasn't a player in America I enjoyed watching more last year than power forward Tyler Hansbrough. By and large, I'm a guard-oriented kind of guy, but every once in a while, a big man comes along who takes over games with rugged, inspired play on the blocks, and it gets my attention. Hansbrough is that type of player.
Hansbrough became the first freshman in Carolina history to lead the team in scoring, with nearly 19 points per game. But one game -- the aforementioned Saturday night in Durham -- sums up what I love about this kid. On the season's biggest stage, in the toughest gym in the nation, against the reigning defensive player of the year (Shelden Williams, who the Atlanta Hawks would make the fifth overall pick in the draft that summer), Hansbrough had his best game of the year, tallying 27 points and 10 rebounds. He also averaged 24.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two games against Boston College and their standout Craig Smith, and went to the line 21 times in two meetings against N.C. State and Cedric Simmons, a first-round NBA draft pick.
With Williams, Simmons, and Smith all gone, the ACC is relatively free of quality big men. With the lane opened up, and with more weapons around him, Hansbrough is primed for an even bigger year -- one that should end with national player of the year honors.
3. Kansas A second straight first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament has Kansas on the verge of becoming one of those teams that casual fans associate with post-season disappointment.
It should be noted, however, that the current crop of Jayhawks is responsible for only one of those failures, last year's 77-73 loss at the hands of the Bradley Braves. When we further point out that Bill Self's young club nearly came all the way back from a 14-point second half deficit, and it doesn't seem so bad, does it? A reasonable inference is that Kansas, without a veteran leader, simply took a little while -- a little more than a half, say -- to get used to the pressure of being a heavy favorite in an NCAA tournament game.
This Kansas team is talented. Few freshman wings last year looked as polished with the ball as Brandon Rush, and Mario Chalmers -- once he became comfortable -- and Russell Robinson form a strong backcout. Incoming freshman Darrell Arthur will allow Julian Wright to play more minutes at small forward, which is supposed to be a good thing.
I remain unconvinced. I didn't see Wright play in high school, but what I did see of him last year did not suggest that the three is his natural position. He looked ragged and uncomfortable facing the basket and putting the ball on the floor, and didn't step outside for long jumpers the way we've come to expect from a swingman at a major program.
If -- and only if -- the highly-touted Wright is as advertised, then this lofty ranking may be justified.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 4:48 PM
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