2009-10 season previews
It’s one thing to know that the greatest improvement most college basketball players show is between their freshmen and sophomore seasons.
It’s another to pinpoint those sophomores bound for stardom. But hey, that’s why they pay Seth Davis the big bucks.
In fact, there are only a few I'd add to his list.
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It’s almost here.
Once four games tip off at 7 p.m. ET Monday –North Carolina vs. FIU and Syracuse vs. Albany – the 2009-10 college basketball will officially be under way. We’ve provided previews, All-American teams, players to watch and everything else needed to be ready for the season.
But here are seven more storylines you may have missed.
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This is the last of the lists.
Our rundown of the various college basketball preseason topics (top conferences, high fliers, new coaches, etc.) covered all the necessary reading for your needs entering 2009-10. Well, now it does.
And I suppose highlighting the best defenders last should come as no surprise. These guys never get any respect.
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It’s amazing how a dunk can change a game.
After all, it’s just two points. Dunks usually aren’t game-winning shots and sometimes require only minimum effort to perform. But sometimes dunks do more than that.
Not all dunks are created equal. Dunks can swing a game’s momentum with one thunderous jam by instantly deflate a defender. Some dunks humiliate, some dunks inspire and the best ones affect the outcomes of game.
And here are five guys who can do just that.
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Say you’re trying to figure out 50 of the best players in college hoops. What are your options?
The easiest way would be to click here. It’s the only place where you’ll find 50 guys cross-indexed by position, school and class.
Need another option? You could always try the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list.
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That the in the headline should be italicized, but sometimes you just gotta accept the limitations of how the blog is handled.
Anyway, the NBCSports.com All-America team is live. Who's on it? You'll have to click to find out.
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Every college hoops season preview features the usual staples. A Top 25. Players to watch. Top conferences, coaches on the hot seat, elite scorers…well, you get the idea. So what’s that leave?
The best names.
You know, a post that centers around other sweet monikers like Kevin Pittsnoggle, Chief Kickingstallionsims and – my favorite – Fennis Dembo.
With 344 rosters to sift through, there are a host of intriguing, funny and flat-out silly names out there. And thankfully, Rob Dauster at Ballin Is a Habit has already done the dirty work.
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Anytime someone puts out a preseason Top 25, there’s going to be grumbling. Teams might be ranked too low, ranked too high or omitted altogether.
And those omitted teams usually have a pretty good case.
By March, some or all of the following 10 teams may be in the Top 25. They’ve each got talent and experience, but are either replacing one or more key players or have yet to really make an impact with the guys they’ve got.
Well, now’s the time.
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Phew. After 5,500 words, several revisions and agonizing over teams 23, 24 and 25, the 2009-10 college hoops is finally finished. You can read it all here.
I tended to favor experienced teams who returned a lot of their players, with some exceptions to those who brought in great recruiting classes. To my thinking, there is a clear No. 1, seven more teams who are serious Final Four contenders, another dozen who will move up and down the Top 20, and 15 others switching in and out of the Top 25.
That said, the teams and order is pretty close to what I was thinking in June, but with some changes and additions.
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Pick your favorite scoring outburst from 2008-09. Was it Ryan Toolson hitting 63 against Chicago State? Or Ben Woodside’s 60 vs. Stephen F. Austin? Or Jodie Meeks dropping 54 against Tennessee?
Meeks passed Dan Issel in the Kentucky record books, while the last time two players passed the 60-point mark in the same season was 1977. It may be years before we see something like those performances again.
Then again, maybe not.
Any one of the following 16 players could go for 50 on a given night. Or even 60. Some, like Meeks, are efficient players who don’t need a lot of shots. Others are volume scorers. But all of them can fill it up.
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