Winthrop, Gonzaga, Morris Almond, Bob Knight
1. See you in March I've got a lot of thoughts on North Carolina, whose fabulous freshmen I saw for the first time tonight, but I'll have the opportunity to talk about the Tar Heels all year. For now, I'd like to mention a team I might not talk about again until March: Winthrop, eventual 73-66 losers to mighty UNC on Wednesday night.
The Eagles led by as many as nine early in the second half before tiring against the deeper Heels (both teams were playing their second game in as many nights). What's more, they went on an improbable 17-0 run in the first half. Normally, when a less-talented team hangs with a traditional power, they do it by staying close the whole way. That they were able to so thoroughly outplay UNC during a substantial stretch of the game is a testament not only to their talent but the confidence they earned while nearly upsetting Tennessee in last year's tourney. They have two legit players in Torrell Martin and Craig Bradshaw, and won't back down against anybody. I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the second round of the Dance come March.
2. Memory lane This version of Gonzaga reminds me quite a bit of the 98-99 team that put the school on the national basketball map with a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight. Recent editions of the Bulldogs have relied heavily on bruisers like Rony Turiaf and J.P. Batista, as well as inside-outside forward Adam Morrison.
These Zags are perimeter-oriented, much like the 98-99 team, although their crowded backcourt of Derek Raivio, Jeremy Pargo, Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespides, and Matt Bouldin is less reliant on the three than Matt Santangelo and Richie Frahm were. Altidor-Cespides and Raivio can hit it -- and Raivio still shoots it too often -- but this more of a slashing group.
Up front, sophomore Josh Heytvelt reminds me a lot of Casey Calvary, with perhaps a little more polish in his offensive arsenal. He's not quite as ferocious on the glass or with his dunks as Calvary, but he is a similarly athletic big. Heytvelt epitomizes what I love about college basketball: The annual influx of players who make huge strides from year to year. There was nothing about his freshman season (10 minutes, four points, and two rebounds per game) that would suggest he was capable of starting the season the way he has. But after failing to reach double figures in any game during his freshman campaign, he's done it each of the first three times out this year.
3. Sweet future for Almond Rice's Morris Almond struggled against Gonzaga Tuesday night, going just 4-for-15, but it didn't take long for me to see why scouts and talking heads were raving about him heading into the season. He first bucket was a smoth stepback jumper; on his second, he went up for a jumper from about 15 feet away, absorbed substantial body contact, waited patiently for his body to realign itself, and then lofted a soft shot that dropped through. And the foul.
When he was at North Carolina, Rashad McCants never looked like he was exerting much effort, barely breaking a sweat as he glided around defenders on his way to the hoop. Almond has that same quality.
(And 1) This is a college basketball blog, so a few words on the biggest issue in the sport at present: The Bobby Knight ordeal.
I'm not particularly satisfied with what anyone is saying about it. Knight's detractors inevitably exaggerate his malintentions; those who defend him by characterizing the open-palmed chuck underneath Michael Prince's chin as the coach simply "lifting" the young man's head are kidding themselves.
The bottom line, in my book, is that standards of acceptability vary, even from program to program. You wouldn't likely take the kind of verbal abuse Knight doles out at your job -- I certainly wouldn't -- but that's in large because it's not what you signed up for. Tech officials have stood behind Knight, neither Prince nor his parents are complaining, and I haven't heard anything from other Tech kids or their parents, either. That tells me that within the Red Raider basketball family, this is an acceptable way to communicate.
There's nothing inherently wrong with what Knight did. I wouldn't recommend doing it to a stranger in a bar, and it certainly approaches the line of acceptability, but it's not like he punched the kid. It wasn't mean-spirited, and it wasn't done to punish. Prince -- and college basketball players everywhere -- has almost certainly been in more physical danger during "toughness" or "hustle" drills at practice, the kind that have players scrapping on the court for loose balls or whacking each other with pads while shooting layups to simulate getting fouled.
The Eagles led by as many as nine early in the second half before tiring against the deeper Heels (both teams were playing their second game in as many nights). What's more, they went on an improbable 17-0 run in the first half. Normally, when a less-talented team hangs with a traditional power, they do it by staying close the whole way. That they were able to so thoroughly outplay UNC during a substantial stretch of the game is a testament not only to their talent but the confidence they earned while nearly upsetting Tennessee in last year's tourney. They have two legit players in Torrell Martin and Craig Bradshaw, and won't back down against anybody. I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the second round of the Dance come March.
2. Memory lane This version of Gonzaga reminds me quite a bit of the 98-99 team that put the school on the national basketball map with a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight. Recent editions of the Bulldogs have relied heavily on bruisers like Rony Turiaf and J.P. Batista, as well as inside-outside forward Adam Morrison.
These Zags are perimeter-oriented, much like the 98-99 team, although their crowded backcourt of Derek Raivio, Jeremy Pargo, Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespides, and Matt Bouldin is less reliant on the three than Matt Santangelo and Richie Frahm were. Altidor-Cespides and Raivio can hit it -- and Raivio still shoots it too often -- but this more of a slashing group.
Up front, sophomore Josh Heytvelt reminds me a lot of Casey Calvary, with perhaps a little more polish in his offensive arsenal. He's not quite as ferocious on the glass or with his dunks as Calvary, but he is a similarly athletic big. Heytvelt epitomizes what I love about college basketball: The annual influx of players who make huge strides from year to year. There was nothing about his freshman season (10 minutes, four points, and two rebounds per game) that would suggest he was capable of starting the season the way he has. But after failing to reach double figures in any game during his freshman campaign, he's done it each of the first three times out this year.
3. Sweet future for Almond Rice's Morris Almond struggled against Gonzaga Tuesday night, going just 4-for-15, but it didn't take long for me to see why scouts and talking heads were raving about him heading into the season. He first bucket was a smoth stepback jumper; on his second, he went up for a jumper from about 15 feet away, absorbed substantial body contact, waited patiently for his body to realign itself, and then lofted a soft shot that dropped through. And the foul.
When he was at North Carolina, Rashad McCants never looked like he was exerting much effort, barely breaking a sweat as he glided around defenders on his way to the hoop. Almond has that same quality.
(And 1) This is a college basketball blog, so a few words on the biggest issue in the sport at present: The Bobby Knight ordeal.
I'm not particularly satisfied with what anyone is saying about it. Knight's detractors inevitably exaggerate his malintentions; those who defend him by characterizing the open-palmed chuck underneath Michael Prince's chin as the coach simply "lifting" the young man's head are kidding themselves.
The bottom line, in my book, is that standards of acceptability vary, even from program to program. You wouldn't likely take the kind of verbal abuse Knight doles out at your job -- I certainly wouldn't -- but that's in large because it's not what you signed up for. Tech officials have stood behind Knight, neither Prince nor his parents are complaining, and I haven't heard anything from other Tech kids or their parents, either. That tells me that within the Red Raider basketball family, this is an acceptable way to communicate.
There's nothing inherently wrong with what Knight did. I wouldn't recommend doing it to a stranger in a bar, and it certainly approaches the line of acceptability, but it's not like he punched the kid. It wasn't mean-spirited, and it wasn't done to punish. Prince -- and college basketball players everywhere -- has almost certainly been in more physical danger during "toughness" or "hustle" drills at practice, the kind that have players scrapping on the court for loose balls or whacking each other with pads while shooting layups to simulate getting fouled.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 1:11 AM
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