ACC
ACC's teams, coaches and style of play.
Height usually makes people overthink thing. My favorite was when Kevin Durant entered the NBA draft, but there was heated debates among NBA pundits if he could actually play power forward. You know, ‘cause he’s 6-10.
“He’s gonna have to bulk up to bang down low in the NBA.”
“Durant could rebound in college, but that was because of his long arms. That won’t fly in the NBA.”
“Can he guard opposing power forwards?”
It was a bunch of hooey. Anyone who saw Durant play knew he’d be a 2 or 3 in the pros, even if he did struggle to guard shorter, quicker guards. Won’t they have to guard him as well?
Turns out a similar discussion surrounds incoming freshman John Henson at North Carolina.
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Recruits are meant to feel welcome when they visit college campuses.
Just not too welcome. Ask Duke.
Star prospect Kyrie Irving, potentially the game-breaking guard Mike Krzyzewski needs to get back to the Final Four, visited Durham last weekend.
And, like any hoops school, the students knew about the visit and wanted to do their part, posting signs around campus to welcome him. Nice, right?
Turns out it’s too nice.
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By ranking Maryland’s Greivis Vazquez as the second-best shooting guard in the country (pretty good right?) and Scottie Reynolds No. 7, Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News managed to spur non-stop banter about his basketball acumen. Namely that he didn’t have any.
Readers were miffed that Vazquez wasn’t listed among the top point guards, and weren’t happy to see him among the shooting guards.
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Michael Jordan being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame surprises no one. In fact, the announcement was months ago.
But MJ selecting David Thompson, the original ACC high flyer and dunk king, was a surprise. Jordan could’ve gone with Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen or Dean Smith -- Smith seemed like the odds-on favorite – not the greatest player in N.C. State history.
But his Airness did just that. And it makes perfect sense. After all, Jordan is a guy with a sense of history.
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Paying $20 for the chance to see Vince Carter throw down alley-oop dunks from Ty Lawson still seems like a sweet bargain. Same for watching Antawn Jamison and Rasheed Wallace play together, taking passes from Raymond Felton.
The “teams” for UNC’s event this Friday were announced Thursday. Fans won’t get to see a title matchup between the 2005 and 2009 squads, but it’s a fun showcase nonetheless. (No Tyler Hansbrough due to a shin injury.)
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Florida International had us all fooled. If getting trounced by the defending national champions can help the “greater good,” that’s OK with the Panthers.
The Panthers’ athletic director, Pete Garcia, bitterly complained last week that Isiah Thomas’ FIU coaching debut would be against North Carolina. Garcia claimed that the event’s organizer, the Gazelle Group, was reneging a previous agreement that FIU would play Ohio State. FIU even considered withdrawing from the event.
But it turns out Thomas isn’t above a good thumping.
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Duke’s lack of guard depth for next season – Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and freshman Andre Dawkins are the only natural perimeter players around – has thrust one of their former walk-ons into a potentially prominent role next season.
This could be really good for Jordan Hamilton, a fifth-year graduate student, who was a two-time All-State player at his Arkansas high school.
Then again, if Hamilton plays a lot, he seems like an ideal candidate to draw the ire of opposing fans. Hear me out.
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A Q&A with Maryland coach Gary Williams covered quite a bit of ground, including his prognosis for the Terps’ upcoming season, his recruiting methods and the heat Williams took last January when the Terps lost five games, including a 41-point drubbing by Duke and a shocker to Morgan State.
Some pointed to Williams’ lack of high-profile recruits on the roster as the reason behind the Terps’ failings, but when they reached the ACC tourney title game and the second round of the NCAA tournament, some that talk died off.
In fact, it provided some motivation for Williams' team. Suffice to say, Williams can still breathe some fire.
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Love the bracket.
Check that. Love THE bracket. You know, the ultimate way to categorize and argue anything and everything? Love it.
Lowercase is the original, the NCAA tournament. Uppercase is for everything else, much like the guys at “The Final Four of Everything” figured out. Best action movie? Seed ‘em and throw ‘em in a bracket. Most overrated candy bar? Bracket ‘em.
It’s the best way to have a little bit of March extend into summer without actually having games to focus on. (Or so I think. You might have other stuff to do.)
Still, the best brackets usually involve sports. Dunno if it’s the argumentative aspect or the natural tendency to match up sports topics and see how it all comes out, but sports remains the go-to.
Cue the guys at Buster Sports.
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Mike Krzyzewski to the Lakers isn’t happening. Told you it was an easy choice.
Coach K left no room for future speculation – unlike other sports figures who refuse to ever, ever go away – about current employer. He’s staying at Duke. It wasn’t Drew Rosenhaus short, but it was simple, direct and clear.
"I will never leave Duke until I leave coaching," he said Tuesday. "I'm not going to the Lakers. They have one of the great coaches in the game [in Phil Jackson]. I can't do it as well as he can.”
So he made a statement without any wiggle room. And for that, many thanks should go to Coach K.
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