Basketball Thoughts
1) Harrison Barnes badly needs another year of college --
This guy is not a smooth, instinctive basketball player. Not yet anyway. Besides having a body NOT built for the game with his short arms and heavy build, this guy seems to have made up his mind before he receives a pass whether or not he's going to shoot. A player needs to be unpredictable and Barnes doesn't seem to have any clue yet about passing and teamwork. Sure, he shot the ball well last night versus Duke, and he has good game off the dribble, but another year of learning how to play with talented teammates would do him well. Having prepped in the high school basketball wasteland of Iowa, he does not know how to play within a team structure yet, imo. But he'll almost certainly be a top five pick when he inevitably comes out this spring. For shame.
2) Duke is my pick to win it all --
If Coach K can win it with the group he had last year he has a great chance to win it with this team. Subtract the bangers up front from last year's squad, but add the Plumlees and give the electrifying Nolan Smith added responsibility and Duke is at least as good as last season's champs. Coach K is, incredibly, still the best coach in the country even into his 60s. The Blue Devils are just so solid in all aspects and can play at any pace. Last night's loss at Carolina may be a blessing in disguise: losses at the end of the regular season and into the conference tournaments tend to make sure the players listen to their coaches. Duke can easily win six in The Big Dance.
3) Getting to a game early is where it's at --
I love the pageantry, the orchestration of all the stuff that goes on prior to tipoff. Everyone is optimistic, everyone is undefeated. The players go through their warmup drills thinking that "tonight is the night for me to be special." The scorekeepers and officials all greet each other like long lost friends. I don't get the same feeling prior to a hockey or baseball game. Football games are basically wars fought with shoulder pads so pregame is more or a sense of doom than anything in that sport as most folks know there is great potential for serious injury (or should know anyway). I simply adore getting to a hoops game 40 minutes prior to game time and drinking it all in.
4) And leaving early is classless, in any and every case --
This is Portland, Maine. Population 70k. With two highways and a handful of main roads. How is it that every time I go to a Seadogs, Pirates, or Red Claws game, to say nothing of high school games, there are scores of folks who leave before the game is over. Maybe I take this too serious, but I will never understand the people who go to a game and don't care who wins. That's why they're playing the freaking game, people! Leaving in the sixth inning or with four minutes left in the fourth quarter will never cease to amaze me. What's so special about getting home anyway? Here in The 'Pent the cat is fed and has water: she doesn't care if I get back twenty minutes earlier. There's really nothing special going on here usually, so I feel free to stay and get my money's worth.
5) Kenneth Faried of Morehead State is NASTY! --
This dude's a good bet to be a lottery pick. Great basketball body, with arms that go on forever, big frame, and looks a legit 6 10. Man, does this guy play hard. Morehead State was, thankfully, finally on TV for their conference tournament and Faried looked sensational. He doesn't look good from the line, where he might cost his team a point of two a night (which is a lot) because of his poor release, but you can't have everything. I get the sense, reading an article in Sports Illustrated on Faried and his family, that there is lot of financial and emotional pressure on this young man to make it big. That could pay off in that he just might take his career seriously. I believe Faried, in the right situation (meaning good team, well run, that needs rebounds and not a post up player) can absolutely THRIVE in The Association.
This guy is not a smooth, instinctive basketball player. Not yet anyway. Besides having a body NOT built for the game with his short arms and heavy build, this guy seems to have made up his mind before he receives a pass whether or not he's going to shoot. A player needs to be unpredictable and Barnes doesn't seem to have any clue yet about passing and teamwork. Sure, he shot the ball well last night versus Duke, and he has good game off the dribble, but another year of learning how to play with talented teammates would do him well. Having prepped in the high school basketball wasteland of Iowa, he does not know how to play within a team structure yet, imo. But he'll almost certainly be a top five pick when he inevitably comes out this spring. For shame.
2) Duke is my pick to win it all --
If Coach K can win it with the group he had last year he has a great chance to win it with this team. Subtract the bangers up front from last year's squad, but add the Plumlees and give the electrifying Nolan Smith added responsibility and Duke is at least as good as last season's champs. Coach K is, incredibly, still the best coach in the country even into his 60s. The Blue Devils are just so solid in all aspects and can play at any pace. Last night's loss at Carolina may be a blessing in disguise: losses at the end of the regular season and into the conference tournaments tend to make sure the players listen to their coaches. Duke can easily win six in The Big Dance.
3) Getting to a game early is where it's at --
I love the pageantry, the orchestration of all the stuff that goes on prior to tipoff. Everyone is optimistic, everyone is undefeated. The players go through their warmup drills thinking that "tonight is the night for me to be special." The scorekeepers and officials all greet each other like long lost friends. I don't get the same feeling prior to a hockey or baseball game. Football games are basically wars fought with shoulder pads so pregame is more or a sense of doom than anything in that sport as most folks know there is great potential for serious injury (or should know anyway). I simply adore getting to a hoops game 40 minutes prior to game time and drinking it all in.
4) And leaving early is classless, in any and every case --
This is Portland, Maine. Population 70k. With two highways and a handful of main roads. How is it that every time I go to a Seadogs, Pirates, or Red Claws game, to say nothing of high school games, there are scores of folks who leave before the game is over. Maybe I take this too serious, but I will never understand the people who go to a game and don't care who wins. That's why they're playing the freaking game, people! Leaving in the sixth inning or with four minutes left in the fourth quarter will never cease to amaze me. What's so special about getting home anyway? Here in The 'Pent the cat is fed and has water: she doesn't care if I get back twenty minutes earlier. There's really nothing special going on here usually, so I feel free to stay and get my money's worth.
5) Kenneth Faried of Morehead State is NASTY! --
This dude's a good bet to be a lottery pick. Great basketball body, with arms that go on forever, big frame, and looks a legit 6 10. Man, does this guy play hard. Morehead State was, thankfully, finally on TV for their conference tournament and Faried looked sensational. He doesn't look good from the line, where he might cost his team a point of two a night (which is a lot) because of his poor release, but you can't have everything. I get the sense, reading an article in Sports Illustrated on Faried and his family, that there is lot of financial and emotional pressure on this young man to make it big. That could pay off in that he just might take his career seriously. I believe Faried, in the right situation (meaning good team, well run, that needs rebounds and not a post up player) can absolutely THRIVE in The Association.
posted by joe sweeney at 4:32 PM
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