DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum College Basketball!

Syracuse is #1 by default. There's not a single person that thinks they're actually the best team in the country.

The three best teams in the country are still Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio State.

Uconn will be in that group eventually. Just not right now.

Dont sleep on Wagner...Their coach Danny Hurley will get his boys playing like St Anthonys. they already are...playing tough, hard-nosed defense, mixed with sound offensive strategy.

Theyd have trouble matching up with a school like Kentucky where they play fast and long...but against grind it out style teams...Wagner could do some real damage.

2 teams i got winning first round games this year are Long Beach State and Wagner

Gary Williams works for the big ten network, kind of interesting

Big least Marquette is getting smashed by Vandy.

And it looks like the Scarlett Knights of Rutgers beat #10 Florida.......... Big Least?

Besides, Marquette has dealt with injury issues, I know their center was out and I read the backup caught early foul trouble. I think another player has been out since the beginning of the year also. I believe Vanderbilt was supposed to be a pretty good team this year. I dunno what happened (I know they had some embarassing loss/losses early) but they were supposed to be a good team.

Man I wish my Huskies could just play the Buckeyes (and rep the Big East against your crew).......... Last time I remembered playing you guys we won. Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd ring a bell? (Just looked up the game and saw we won a national championship in that year too) We were set to play last year but you guys had to blow it and lose to the Wild Kittens. We beat SDSU and held up our bargain. You guys didn't. We beat Calimari and his felines of course; on our way to another NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship.

So rip the East all you want, but we brought home a title last year. You left your opportunity in the Sweet 16. The last time a Big Ten team won is 2000, before that 1989...... May be I should refer to your conference as The Big When? At least I'm original instead of stealing some line from Skip BayLESS

More annoying?

SEC football guy or Big East basketball guy?

Let's take votes.

St. Johns?

Yawn.

Blew them out already.

So you did.......... Although you beat them without Steve Lavin (and not having a coach for a young team is often a major disadvantage). But a wins a win and you blew'm out. So props to your squad

A lot of times I wish those non-conf games were more mixed in instead of all bunched into the beginning of the season. Last year, when Conn played you guys the first time, both our teams were very different from when we played later in the season (and mid-season you prob would have been favored against us).

Well anyway, I guess Conn vs St. Johns just has sentimental value to me.

And it should be tough either way because Calhoun won't be coaching (same way Lavin wasn't coaching when the Red Storm played you guys). It's going to make the next couple games very difficult for the Huskies

I hate UConn's Assistant Coach so much. He's just not meant to play the Head Coach role. I wish we could let Kevin Ollie do it. I dunno why George Blaney or whatever his name is gets to coach (other than being Calhoun's right hand man forever). His track record is pretty bad.

It's conference play, pride is on the line, Calhoun won't be there. It'll be a tough game. And St. Johns will continue to improve this year, they're a very young squad. That Harkless guy is supposed to be pretty darn good.

Of course I always bet on myself, Conn wins by 4
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BTW last year you seemed to know that Doron Lamb and Brandon Knight were going to Kentucky when I was still praying they'd end up at UConn, it's okay because Shabazz Napier turned out to be quite a player and with him and Boatwright as undersized guards, I think they'll play full 4 years at Connecticut.

But anyway, do you know anything about Anthony Bennett. He's been offered by Kentucky too, which always is disappointing to me because for some freakin reason you seem to get every top recruit UConn is going for (except Drummond, thank goodness), but yeah, please don't tell me you've heard through the grape vine or something that Bennett is going to be wearing your white and blue instead of mine....... (although if he is, i'd like to know)

Got a few calls in. I'll PM ya when I hear something.

Kentucky opened up as a 12.5 point favorite over Louisville tomorrow according to Vegas Insider.

SEC guy is far worse, probably because football fans are far more outrageous than bball fans.

My favorite SEC guy is "Vanderbilt could win the Big Ten" guy.

Coming in second is the guy who cracks on another conference giant for losing to an inferior in-conference opponent, about 5 minutes after boasting how good the SEC is because Mississippi State or Vanderbilt almost beat Alabama or LSU.

Who's this SEC football guy?

I like Pete, we need more posters with his passion posting on this thread.

Guess we just see it differently. People ripping on the Big East (for me), means people are saying UConn isn't playing good competition within their conference. I want the Big East to be as good as possible so that my team gets the best competition, and when we recruit, I want potential players to be excited about playing in the Big East.

That's the way I've always been about the conference. So whether it's basketball or football, I root for Big East teams (unless someone is obviously playing UConn).

So yeah, of course I rep the Big East, because I rep UConn and that's my conference. When people rip the Big East, I see it as ripping UConn
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BTW, Conn's looking pretty good. I guess St. Johns doesn't have Lavin for tonights game. He's been at practices, unlike Calhoun, but he won't be coaching.

Kentucky might have the worst press offense I've seen. They also struggle badly running a half court offense.

They play like the Miami heat. If they can't get their transition game going they're screwed.

I guess I disagree with that point of view. If a team is as good as I think they are, I don't care who they play. They should be able to beat anybody. If their ranking is inflated from playing a weaker conference then they'll get exposed come tournament time. Conference teams are who they are. No sense talking up a bad opponent to make you feel better about your team.

You're a Celtics fan. Did you defend the Atlantic Division when the Raptors, Knicks, Nets and Sixers all blew and Boston was good? (I guess that really should be more in the present tense, since they're all still pretty mediocre.)

Not arguing, honestly interested to know your thoughts on the matter.

Nope, but NBA is different because NBA has so many games and so many teams play each other.

I live near NYC (before and now after, college), so I tend to watch the Knicks and Nets now. During the playoffs I go for the Celtics, but I'm not the Celtics fan I used to be.

Honestly, moving away from Vermont has been difficult with me and the NBA. All my college friends (who are Celtics fans) don't live near me anymore, and so I don't follow them anywhere near the way I used to. I began rooting for the celtics in the spring of 2001 because of Ricky Davis and Paul Pierce. The 2004 season was probably the height of my Celtics love, as I could watch the games locally with my roommates. Graduated in 2004, and slowly my loyalty has dropped. Two years ago I had a second wind, but lately, my love has waivered.

When I was in college I watched every game, but now I find myself catching most of the Knicks games and very few of the Celtics.

But yeah, same thing with the Yankees. I don't rep the AL East because the Yankees play so much competition outside of their division.

UConn doesn't get much non-conference action, so it's taken personally.

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UConn just beat St Johns pretty darn good. This team is gonna be good folks. If Andre Drummond can develop some post moves and Alex Oriaki (our starting PF) can develop some offense, we'll be tough to contend with.

Our guards are good, and Ryan Boatwright (freshman) will improve with more conference play. We're beginning to mesh, and this team has that chemistry to repeat. Good guards, two big men, both can play defense (although they need to improve their off ball D), and we have decent guys who can rotate with the guards for the SF position.

Conn is nice

Once again, I say "We can beat any team in the country"

Although St. Johns looked pretty lousy. You're right TopDawg, they were nothing special. But at least I don't have to hear the NYC/Long Island folks give me garbage about the Johnnies beating UConn

I'd say the epitome of SEC football guy at his worst was when LSU was beating us late in the 4th quarter of the title game and fans first idea was to chant, "SEC! SEC!" SEC!"

These refs are AWFUL

Did you watch the Kentucky/Louisville game?

THOSE were awful refs.

Both ways.

Absolutely pathetic.

William Buford is our Scottie Pippen.

He is incredibly mentally weak.

Indiana is for real.

Did they rush the court again? I didn't see lol

Kentucky trailing Arkansas-Little Rock

JC: After losing two recent games in New Jersey, Conn has a big one tonight against West Virginia at 7PM. Should be finished before the college championship game, so I'll probably switch between football and the end of the Knicks vs Memphis later.

Anyway, I'm looking for Conn to bounce back. I've missed some of the games lately because of jet lag and living in Europe the past month. But now i'm back in the states and ready to watch Conn. Hopefully I can will them to victory against these Mountaineers tonight. May be I can will a few less turnovers too.

Anyway, for all the smack i've been talking, i've obviously noticed conn has lost two recently to teams we shouldn't be losing to. May be it's just a New Jersey thing...........

But I'm hoping for a big game from Napier and Lamb, some clutch shots from Neils Giffey, and strong play inside from the big men. And far less turnovers by Andre Drummond. He's really good, but still very raw unfortunately.

Conference Competition is just what we need to get better though. As long as the confidence stays high, a couple losses might show the team that they're going to have to work hard to get back to where they were last year

Drummond has been very disappointing. As a Cavs fan, I was hoping he would come and tear things up so that we could potentially tab him as the answer to our C and then we'd have our PG and C spots locked down.

I'd rather get the 5spot secured before getting a wing player because it generally takes a little longer for PGs (ball-handling) and Cs (paint prowess) to adapt to the NBA game. Wing players are more plug-n-play.

Quote:

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Drummond has been very disappointing. As a Cavs fan, I was hoping he would come and tear things up so that we could potentially tab him as the answer to our C and then we'd have our PG and C spots locked down.

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From reports I read around CT from people watching him play in high school, he was considered very raw.

That's what he still is. Very athletic, he is coordinated, and he's a very big guy who can jump through the roof. He needs time to learn how to dominate though. He doesn't have any post moves yet as his offense is all facing the basket. He also needs to improve decision making and passing. He's not going to be able to hang with big centers and just catch high alley-oop passes from the PG all the time. Eventually someone is going to knock him on his butt.

But he'll be good, have faith. He just needs a full season this year. Unfortunately for you Cavs fans, he needs another year also. But he'll be good. The talent is there and I like his attitude. He's got great defense and he hustles.

Just needs to learn offense and the tricks to the game. I do still think he'll probably go to the NBA next year though. As a big man, it's just too risky not to go when you're such a high pick. A blown knee or something could blow everything.

But yes, he is a real NBA quality center. And most importantly he plays great defense and has the desire to rebound. For me, that's the most important thing. There aren't many guys athletic and big enough to deal with the Dwight Howards, this guy is. He just needs to get more experience

If I was a Cavs fan, I'd definitely tab this guy as a possible solution at center. His talent is rare. I mean, he's only 18. He's just a kid and people (especially with the NBA) forget that. But he'll get there, I can see it

the other big problem with drafting 5s high is if he will get there for you or if he will for his second team. alot of times teams give up on the Kwame's right before they find their role in the NBA (he's an okay starting defensive center now)

What I like about Drummond besides his freakish athleticism is his work ethic and he has a good attitude.

OSU is holding opponents to .78 points per trip this season