ABOUT THIS BLOG

News, analysis, feature stories, random thoughts... if it's about college basketball, either in season or during the summer doldrums, you'll find it in Beyond the Arc.

Mike Miller

Mike Miller has been NBCSports.com's college basketball editor since 2003. It's a position he relishes; no wonder considering he transferred to Kansas to watch Paul Pierce play. Most of his favorite sports memories involve college hoops, usually during March, when every waking moment is spent thinking about March Madness.



Does college hoops have any myths?

Posted: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:58 PM
Filed Under: ,

People say a lot of things about John Calipari. Top-flight recruiter. Builder of programs. Shady coach. Winner. Take your pick.

But I’m not sure how often this one gets thrown around: Calipari produces NBA point guards.

It’s the subject of a Dimemag.com article titled “The biggest myth in college basketball.” The author writes how Calipari doesn’t really produce NBA point guards. True, his last two point guards – Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans – are NBA players right now. But both would’ve been in the league, regardless of what Calipari did. Same goes for John Wall, the freshman who’s currently playing at Kentucky.

And other players under Calipari, Darius Washington, Dajuan Wagne, Willie Kemp and Antonio Burks, among others, aren’t NBA-caliber players. Where did Calipari’s get this point guard reputation? I have no idea. Perhaps it’s passed around in NBA circles and on blogs I don’t read.

ANYWAY, labeling the notion that Calipari produces NBA point guards as the biggest myth in college basketball seems more than a little ridiculous. Mostly, I wonder who talks about it. Agents? AAU coaches? Scouts? It doesn’t qualify as a myth.

For that matter, are there any great myths in college hoops? Maybe there are just notions, which are true … sometimes.

You know, stuff like this:

  • The Big Ten is brutally slow. (Not always)
  • Guard-oriented teams rule in March. (I blame ’97 Arizona for this one.)
  • Defense wins titles. (UNC averaged 90.2 ppg last season, 2nd in the nation, and topped kenpom.com’s ratings.)
  • Everyone hates Duke. (Not everyone. Just a lot of people.)

Follow me on Twitter (@BeyndArcMMiller) and get more college basketball news at NBCSports.com.

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

Wasn't the whole point about UNC last season whether they'd play enough defense to win the title. They ended up 16th in the Kenpom ratings there too. That's very good.

In fact last 5 winners rank in defensive efficiency: UNC 16, Kansas 1, Florida 12, Florida 5, UNC 5.

Yes, the offenses were good too, but everyone played defense. It definitely helps win championships.

John Templon, Chicago, IL (Sent Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:14 PM)

Yeah, it was meant more as a general statement and the important thing. I think that except for rare cases a team pretty much needs offense, defense, depth and some luck to win a title.

Mike Miller (Sent Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:56 PM)

What about the John Wooden's squeaky clean image?  

Not that he was the only program doing so at the time, but it has to be easier to win championships when your players are on payroll.  Numerous reports and player interviews back this up, yet everything is forgotten when Wooden is annointed "Best Coach Ever".

Jimmy, Lexington (Sent Wednesday, November 25, 2009 10:14 AM)

Defense wins championships.

Ed Neinabor (Sent Wednesday, November 25, 2009 10:15 PM)



SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.): 

 Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private)

More Beyond the Arc

Recent Posts:

Archives:

Categories:

Syndicate This Site

Add Beyond the Arc to your news reader:
live.com xml
myyahoo msn
bloglines newsgator
google

More college basketball blogs

MSNBC Weblogs