Pac-10
Pac-10's teams, coaches, style of play.
Ben Howland isn’t coaching a basketball team right now. It’s more like a M*A*S*H* unit.
Six scholarship players are nursing injuries, most of which are the nagging kind that could linger. Malcolm Lee’s suffered a mild concussion Sunday. Freshmen Brendan Lane (sprained ankle) and Mike Moser lower back sprain) both hurt themselves at Monday’s practice.
Throw in already ailing forward James Keefe (shoulder) and guard Jerime Anderson (groin) – neither of whom will be available until Nov. – and it’s a thin roster out in Westwood.
As if Howland wasn’t dealing with enough already.
CONTINUED >>
A down year for Pac-10 hoops means a couple of things.
1. The conference may have to endure the catcalls the SEC dealt with in 2008-09. Cal and Washington are going to get most of the hype, but the jury’s out on everyone else.
2. If usual conference powers like UCLA and Arizona are struggling, that opens the door for another team to sneak toward the top.
Perhaps someone like Oregon State?
CONTINUED >>
Pundits (thus far) aren’t giving the Pac-10 much attention. Conventional wisdom is that the league doesn’t have a true national title contender, so it’s been slotted 6th in most conferences rankings I’ve seen. That’s from ESPN, Fox, Lindy’s and yours truly.
But it’d be foolish to sleep on the Pac-10.
California is going to be a Final Four contender and UCLA’s always tough. But the most entertaining team could be Washington.
CONTINUED >>
Arizona coach Sean Miller made a couple of notable signings this summer in Lamont Jones and Derrick Williams, but my favorite move hiring graduate assistant Luke Murray.
Anything that raises the odds of Bill Murray attending a game is a bonus.
Yep, that Bill Murray.
CONTINUED >>
The predictable consensus on Tim Floyd’s resignation? He fell on the basketball sword to save USC’s football program.
That’s what happens when a one-paragraph letter lands on the athletic director’s desk and is accepted without a second thought. All that was missing was a return letter. “Thanks Tim, and enjoy the time off, Pete.”
The school – reeling from allegations of payments to O.J. Mayo from Floyd and the ongoing investigation of more alleged payments to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush – certainly hopes the resignation carries some weight with the NCAA.
And, after all the turmoil clears, just who is going to want this job?
CONTINUED >>
Even if Arizona doesn’t land prize prep recruit Lance Stephenson, new coach Sean Miller got perhaps the best news of the springs: point guard Nic Wise is headed back to Tucson.
Wise isn’t the biggest name to return to school – that’d be either Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson or Miss State’s Jarvis Varnardo – but I’m not sure any player will be more crucial to his team’s fate in 2009-10.
“Now that I’ve made the decision, I’m really looking forward to my senior year,” he said. I bet. Instead of dragging the depths of the Pac-10, Arizona could be a darkhorse for next season.
CONTINUED >>
Tim Floyd has had better springs. The cracks are starting to show. The boosters at Monday’s USC Coaches Tour 2009 got the unfiltered version.
"Kansas has two players who would have been NBA lottery picks, Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, and they are returning to school. Good for them. Our guys get an offer from Islamabad and they’re gone.”
CONTINUED >>
Leave it to Craig Robinson to help bring about some change in the Pac-10.
After partying it up in Washington D.C. Tuesday for his brother-in-law inauguration, Robinson flew into California and led Oregon State to a stunning 69-65 win at Cal.
That sets up a huge game Saturday in Seattle between UCLA and Washington. The winner will be all alone atop the Pac-10.
If you didn’t know, hoops on the West Coast is becoming quite the show.
CONTINUED >>
Determining how many people will attend Barack Obama’s inauguration is an inexact science. A million? Two million? About the only certainties are that it’ll be a star-studded event.
Oh, and at least one Beaver will be there. Guess that means Craig Robinson will skip Tuesday’s Pac-10 coaches’ conference call.
CONTINUED >>
It’s amazing what a good coach can do. Just look at the Pac-10.
UCLA (12-2) continues to thrive under Ben Howland. Herb Sendek’s turned Arizona State (12-2) into a Final Four contender. Heck, Craig Robinson’s even made Oregon State (6-6) into a decent team – still not great – and earned plaudits from his brother-in-law.
But Mike Montgomery at Cal has turned the most heads.
CONTINUED >>
