Before I get into what I want to talk about, which is (see subject line) NCAA Hoops, I will recognize that yes, there was a World Series game tonight, and that the Phillies won in a nailbiter. At least, it was a nailbiter if you don't recognize the fact that the Phillies are clearly the better squad, at almost every position, are likely to win this thing in no more than 6 games, and probably 5.
OK? I've said my piece. Let the Phillies Fans on this blog discuss how awesome their team is. I want to talk Preseason Hoops, which is much more fun, in that it is much less predictable.
A little bit ago, we discussed the HoopsAddict's Top 10. We now have another preseason ranking, from CBS's Gary Parrish--friend of (and former vendetta target of) this here blog. So we can now compare two different professional experts on NCAA and see whether they agree with us, or whether they are wrong. Fun Times!
#1. UNC. Clear consensus. Both Gary and HoopsAddict (from here on in, referred to in some abbreviation, because HoopsAddict is a pain in the ass to type) both agree, and so do I. UNC is clearly #1. They return a shocking number of starters from last year's Runner Up, including Everybody's Favorite Hardworking White Boy, Tyler Hansborough. But also: Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, and a couple of badass freshmen. I say this, absolutely hating this team. I hate UNC. I hate, hate them. I had their rat-faced coach, I hate their overachieving honky. hate hate hate. But they are #1.
#2. Louisville. Clear consensus, amongst the experts. I have issues that Gary and HA don't have. Like them, I loved the play of Earl Clark and Terrence Williams. Unlike HA, I'm not sold on Edgar Sosa, after what feels like five years of waiting for the guy to mature. I'm not sold by Gary's assertion that Earl Clark is a bona fide NBA'er either. He reminds me of Kato out of Iowa State--rangy, aggressive on defense, and occasionally a superstar near the basket. Will he be consistent? Does he really fit Pitino's run and gun? I like this team--just not as much as everyone else, I guess. I'd put them below UConn, for sure.
#3 Consensus! I really like this UConn team, in part because bad ass Thabeet is another year older, and thus a bit less sporadic in his bad-assery. There is no reason this monster of a kid shouldn't dominate the paint in the Big East like a Hibbert did, or even Ewing or Mutumbo, or even Seikaly did. He has the chance to be the next great Big East center. Book it. UConn will be as good as Thabeet wants them to be.
#4. Hoops has Notre Dame; Parrish has Duke. Both are crazy wrong. Notre Dame is a solid, well-coached team, no doubt, with solid players. Is the Big East so fucking good that their 3rd best team is the 4th team in the country? No. The Pac-10 was the best conference last year, and they haven't lost everybody, nor have they lost their ability to recruit. The Big 10 and Big 12 still exist. This is just silly. So is the Duke pick. Parrish has a hilarious line here: "every relevant player from that flawed team is back except DeMarcus Nelson." That's like saying, "I have all of my relevant organs, except for my brain." I'll take a PAC-10 team here--let's say UCLA, who are returning only the best point guard in the country in Darren Collinson, because brains count.
#5. Hoops has Duke; Parrish has Notre Dame. Both are again crazy wrong. I'll take a team from the Big 12. I don't know who--Texas--they lost DJ Augustin, and little else.
#6--First appearances for premier conferences for both Preseason polls--for HoopsA, it's UCLA of the PAC-10; for GP, it is the Boilermakers of Purdue of the Big 10. I'm a little shocked by the appearance of the Boilermakers this high up in the poll, but Gary does a good, if brief, job of reminding us that Big 10 champions are, as often as not, made up of unflashy players that know their roles, and that Purdue has that in spades. Hard to argue with. This seems high for Purdue for me, though. I think #6 is a fine spot for the Top Big 10 team--I just have a feeling it won't be Purdue. Who do I think it will be? I won't say, because you'll accuse me of insane homerism if I did, even though I don't support the team at all.
#7--Gonzaga is showing up here--#7 in HA, and #8 in GP's list. I'm not buying Gonzaga this year. They've got talent, they've got spirit; they've got a roster that is one and done, which is the exact opposite of what has made Gonzaga great. They will cruise through their conference, and win it easily (though, they didn't really do that last year). But I don't see them as Top 10. If I were hunting for midconference badasses, I'd be hunting in the Missouri Valley, or maybe the Horizon, or maybe the Big South. This is the year that Gonzaga is a victim of their own success. This is the year they go from talented upperclassmen to talented underclassmen, and that's a fight they just don't win. I'll take any of the following over Gonzaga: SIU, Butler, or Winthrop. Call me crazy, but I just don't feel Gonzaga this year.
#8--It took this long for HA to mention a Big 12 team in Texas. Gary is following much in line. I'd say to watch out for Oklahoma State here--making it my 2nd Big 12 team. (please note that no one--including Gary, HA, or myself have defending National Champions Kansas in the top 10 (Gary doesn't have them in his Top 25, which he has taken a huge amount of shit for). I think these #7 and #8 picks are just off here. I'd push down Gonzaga down. I'd push Texas up. So, who knows?
#9--Gary and HA have Pitt in their Top 10--HA at #9, Gary at #10. It should be noted that both rankings are predicated on Levance Fields being just fine after two knee surgeries. That seems like a dubious supposition to me. I'll put Pitt towards the bottom of the Top 25. I'm a Georgetown guy, and I am prone to dismiss other Big East teams, but I am not wrong when I say Pittsburgh has a lot of issues, and I wouldn't be surprised if the following thus far unmentioned teams finish ahead of them in the Big East: Syracuse, Villanova, Marquette, West Virginia, Georgetown. I'm not sold on Pitt, clearly. They are one injury away (an injury that has already happened) from being perfectly average in a really, really tough conference.
#10--HA picks Memphis, which is crazy stupid. Gary picked Pitt at #10, which we already discussed; he likes Michigan State at #9. I'll side with Gary, who is a complete Memphis homer, on his reasoning that no one coaches and recruits in the Big 10 like Michigan State's Izzo does. Gary asks rhetorically, "Does it not seem like the Drew Neitzel era lasted forever?" Yes it did, Gary, yes it did. Props to Gary for picking one Big 10 team, something HA never did, which is stupid. The Big 10 is always undervalued (I do it every year) and they always get a team in the Elite 8, at least.
Those are your Top 12-15 teams figuring for the Pre-Season Top 10. What do you think, my pretty bitches?
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2 comments:
It's the Gophers at #6 isn't it? YEAH BABY! It's Tubby Time... great recruiting classes, awesome coach, the Barn, the maroon and gold - GO GOPHERS!
All homerism aside, I really like what Tubby is doing, but he's got a very young team. I think it will be another year until they start to make waves in the top 25. I certainly could see them making the tournament as a bubble team, though.
MINNESOTA, MINNESOTA. HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY GOPHERS!
You certainly won't be hearing me accuse you of homerism if you pick the Gophers to do well. It makes your stomach hurt to say good things about them, doesn't it?
Seriously, you have to stop teasing me like this. It's fucking cruel. My hopes about Golden Gopher Basketball are almost assuredly too high as it is, especially looking at who they lost after last year.
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