Happy 100th!! Top 10 Posts in Daily Onions History

It's a big day today with lots of reason to celebrate. Yes, Christmas is only 5 days away, and yes Hanuka starts tonight, and yes there is a very important birthday today, but most importantly, today marks the 100th post in Daily Onions history!!

We figured there is no better way to celebrate number 100, then by looking back and reminiscing about where this blog has been over the past 99 posts. Here are the Top 10 posts in Daily Onions history, counting down from 10. (click the link to open story in a new tab)

10. Unit, Corps, God, Country- Daily Onions dives in to the Op-Ed world with its thoughts on BYU's Brandon Davies being suspended for breaking the school's Honor Code. Bonus - anytime you can work a quote from A Few Good Men into a column, it's a must - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/03/unit-corps-god-country.html

9. ONIONS Exposed- What would a college basketball blog be without a contest for March Madness. This post goes 1 on 1 with the 1st Annual Daily Onions Show Us Your Onions Winner - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/04/onions-exposed.html

Photo: SI.com

8. Memorable Melo- One of our favorite college basketball players (for obvious reasons), puts up an epic performance for a different orange and blue in last year's NBA playoffs - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/04/memorable-melo.html

7. Mach3 Fact Shaving- Remember when the biggest scandal involving Syracuse basketball was a bad rumor about point shaving? http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/02/mach3-fact-shaving.html

6. LeBron Best in Show...Right Now- We are very lucky that we included the words "right now" in this title, because after the Eastern Conference Championship, LeBron truly was on top of the game. Then we all know what happened in the finals. Go Mavs! http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/05/lebron-best-in-showright-now.html

5. State of the Onions Address- If your blog title resembles Union, the State of the Union address is a perfect time to piggyback with your own speech your constituents...with Raftery and Gus presiding, obviously. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/state-of-onions-address.html

4. Gimme Jimmer: Running Diary- Daily Onions had Jimmer Fever last year (hopefully we'll catch it this year too), and we documented every minute of one of his games at BYU. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/gimme-jimmer.html

3. Big E Hoops Weekend Recap- This could be number 1 on the list. Three days, three basketball games, three college alma maters. It doesn't get any better than that. Relive one of the greatest sports weekends. Thank you Basketball Scheduling Gods. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/survive-and-advance-big-e-hoops-weekend.html

Photo: New York Times

2. Why Blog? Why Onions? You never forget your first. This was the first ever post of Daily Onions, which explains why we got started in the first place. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-blog-why-onions.html

1. One Shining Moment- Do you remember where you were when this happened? One of the defining moments in the past year. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-shining-moment.html

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to having you around for the next 100 posts!

Draftastic Voyage: NBA Draft 2011

In our first A.E. post (after engagement...the First Lady and I made it official over the weekend), Daily Onions is going to breakdown one of our favorite nights of the year, the NBA Draft. Whether we've watched it from home, or live from the MSG theater, or got updates via text alerts, the Draft has always been a night of excitement for NBA fans because there is always so much "upside potential" for trades, new stars coming into the league, GMs making awful picks, etc. This year, however, stands out a bit from other years because.....this year's crop of draft players is AWFUL. Who knows, maybe in 5 years we will look back and talk about the surprise of how good the draft of 2011 was, but more likely it will be about the guy being drafted at number 14 being just as good as the guy drafted at number 3.

Best Dressed Wes

Daily Onions isn't going to do a mock draft as our preview. Wanna know why? Because if you Google "NBA Mock Draft 2011", 4,350,000 results come up in .32 seconds. Instead, we'll take a look at some of the things we are expecting tonight, what players we are rooting for to go into good situations, who's slipping, who's got a cool name, and who is going to be this year's best dressed player, aka The Wes Johnson Award. And now, in no particular order, let's explore this year's Draftastic Voyage:

• Top Two: All signs are pointing to the Cavs (who have the first and fourth pick) going with Kyrie Irving to be the savior for the city of Cleveland. If that is the case, then Minnesota has the opportunity to grab potentially the best player in this draft at Number 2. BUT, Derrick Williams is a tweener in the sense of is he a 3, or is he a four. If they draft him, Minnesota should just change their name to the TweenerWolves, because their roster will consist of Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson, Lazar Haywood, Anthony Randolph, and Martell Webster - all guys with no true identity in their position. Throw in an undersized Kevin Love into the mix, and a log jam at the point guard position, and the TweenerWolves are a bad pick away from combustion. In our opinion, Wolves need to aggressively shop that pick and see if they can make their roster look more like an NBA team, and not a Picasso painting

  

• The man, the myth, the Jimmer: If you aren't rooting for Jimmer to be successful, please leave the blog. No hard feelings, but we don't want you here. We are trying to figure out what would be the best situation for Jimmer. Is it Utah because of his local ties from BYU, and the tradition of John Stockton (aka white point guard), or is it Phoenix because he would have the best mentor a rookie point guard could ask for in Steve Nash (unless Nash is traded), or is it Indiana (Basketball, Indiana, White Kid that can shoot, it all goes together perfectly), or is it Sacramento (he can take over the point and form the backcourt that will average the most FGA's in the history of the league with Tyreke Evans). We are rooting for Phoenix (with Nash of course), or Utah (Jimmer and Gordon Hayward would be instant best friends).

• Best in Show: Shout out to Jim Nantz...sorry I stole your line about Kemba Walker and the Huskies being the Top Dog of college basketball. Seems like Kemba's stock is slipping in the last few days though. We've seen mocks with him as high as 5 and as low as 17. Daily Onions has had a love/hate relationship with Kemba this year. We think he can succeed in the right situation. If he goes to a bad team, I don't think he can put them on his back and make them a contender in the NBA, like he did w/ UConn in the Big East and NCAA Tournament. We'd like to see him go somewhere that he can be a 6th man/backup point guard, and can basically become a Ben Gordon or Jamal Crawford type player. Recently, Kemba hung out at the AXE Lounge (click here for video) and answered a few questions about his favorite sneakers, pre-game music, etc. One of our favorite questions was what UConn player he most admired. He said Rudy Gay was his favorite (Daily Onions is cool with that), but then said the player he admires most is Ray Allen (Daily Onions loves that). Kemba shows us he is smart, not only by finishing his degree in three years, but also by showing respect to the best shooter the game has ever seen. We'll let him slide w/ his answer to who he was rooting for in the Finals.

• Foreign Exchange: There is a possibility that 5 foreign players go in the top 15 tonight, and 3 of them could be selected in the top 6. Is there the next Dirk Nowitzki somewhere in that crop, or is there the next Darko Milicic. That's the risk GMs will face if they roll the dice and pick one of these guys early. It seems like the recipe for success with a lot of the international players is drafting them, keeping them stashed away for a year or two, and then bringing them over after a few more years of seasoning in their overseas league. Our favorite international player this year is Bismack Biyombo. Not only is his name really cool, but he is 6-9, 243 lbs, and has the potential to be another Serge Ibaka in a few years.

• Baby I Like It: Just when you thought we couldn't incorporate an Enrique Iglesias song into an NBA Draft preview, we go there. Here are some other players that we like, and are rooting for to get drafted into good situations: Kawhi Leonard (athletic as heck, great defender, can put the ball in the bucket, and was a joy to watch as part of the SDSU squad last year); Kenneth Faried (he's the next David Lee/Taj Gibson....you'd take a guy like that on your team any day, he'll be a great rebounder/energy guy); Tobias Harris (we wish he would have stayed one more year in college, especially if he would have chosen Syracuse over Tennessee...so much potential here, hopefully he doesn't rot away on someone's bench); Jimmy Butler (No, we didn't include him just for the Butler jokes, but he's another tough player w/ a lot of heart and can do all the little things for your team, would be a great fit for a perennial contender, also glad that he isn't playing for Marquette anymore); JaJuan Johnson (most likely a second rounder, but had a breakout senior season at Purdue, he can do a lot on the court and actually stayed in school for 4 years); Chandler Parsons (good to know that if MGMT ever breaks up, he can still be successful playing basketball); Shelvin Mack (he's from Butler, we love Butler, and we think Shelvin would be a great addition for a good team like the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, etc).

• Iggy Outta Here: As a 76ers fan, we know that tonight could be the end of the line for Andre Igoudala in Philadelphia. We are completely fine with that. He is a better fit for another team, and could be great for a contender, as a #3 option and lockdown defender. He is just one of the many names out there being discussed in trades tonight, along w/ Monta Ellis, Steve Nash, Lamar Odom (and Khloe?), Tony Parker, Johnny Flynn, and so on and so on. The Sixers have the 16th pick (aka Who the Hell Knows What Value You Can Get Here), but we hope they are wheeling and dealing to unload Iggy, move up in the draft, or bring in some help in the middle. 

There you have it. Everything that you needed to know about what Daily Onions was thinking about going into tonight's draft. T-minus 7 hours until the fun begins.

16 Sweet Things To Look Forward To: Part 1

Just 16 teams left standing today, but a few days from now there will only be four. Here is what we are excited about seeing over the next two days, 16 things to be exact. To make sure you don't get Daily Onions-coma, we'll give you eight today and eight tomorrow. In no particular order, eight things to look forward to in tonight's four games.

1. Jimmer: We might have said in no particular order, but Jimmer is always at the top of our lists. In Round 1 he had 32, in Round 2 he had 34, do I hear a 36 for Thursday night against Florida? Bottom line, Jimmer has been a joy to watch this tournament, just as he has been all season long. Hopefully the SI cover jinx won't affect him this week, but either way, this is a pretty sick cover picture. Will Florida be able to contain him? That is the question. In case you don't remember, these two teams met last year in Round 1 of the Tournament...and no, the Gators could not contain Jimmer, as he dropped 37 in the Cougs victory. Expect a pro-Gators crowd down in New Orleans, thanks to its proximity to the Sunshine State. Plus, I'm not sure if BYU students are allowed in the city limits of NOLA.

2. Brad Stevens: If Jimmer is our favorite player, then Brad Stevens is by far our favorite coach. Is it a coincidence that Daily Onions was born the day after we spent a night watching Stevens in person against Loyola back in early December? Probably not. We complimented Stevens in our first post for his sideline demeanor and the way he interacted with his players. That rang true once again on Saturday night at the end of the Butler-Pitt game. With such a bizarre ending, Stevens was calm, cool and collected (we'll call him the anti-Mike Rice), which trickles down to his players. You can tell his guys love playing for him, and there are plenty of top high school recruits out there that will as well. The real question becomes, when does he leave Butler? We don't think he leaves for any of the openings now (Tennessee, Oklahoma, NC State, Mizzou), but instead waits for his dream job  -whatever that might be - We are thinking textbook, traditional college basketball programs like a Duke or an Indiana, etc. With those two schools well off with their current coaches, Coach K and Tom Crean (another Daily Onions favorite), maybe Stevens will indeed stay at Butler for years to come, and bring the Bulldogs to a perennial top 10 team, all while staying cool, calm and collected.

3. Fab 5 Revisited: Two weeks ago we had the Fab 5 documentary air on ESPN, last week we had Duke squeak by Michigan, and if all goes well Thursday night, we could have Steve Fisher and Coach K meet in the Elite 8 with a trip to Final 4 on the line. Talk about things coming full-circle. The NCAA Selection Committee may have screwed up a lot of seeding in this year's tournament, but they have helped Jalen Rose and Co. in keeping the Duke-Michigan/Fab 5 era story lines going throughout the tournament.

4. Kyrie: There was no question that Duke was the best basketball team in the country this season when Kyrie Irving was healthy. A freak toe injury caused him to miss the majority of the season, and he saw his first action since mid-December in Duke's opening round games. His only made FG on Sunday proved to be the game winner against Michigan. Now he's had another few days of practice and should have his "sea-legs" back for Thursday's game. We don't think Kyrie will be back to 100% quite yet, but he should be better than he was last weekend, which makes Duke that much tougher.

5. In the Zona: If you haven't seen Derrick Williams play yet this season, (a) what have you been doing all year? and (b) tune into tonight. The 6-8, 241 lb sophomore is one heck of an athlete. His 3-point play won the game for the Wildcats on Sunday, while his blocked shot against Memphis saved the day in Round 1. What is he going to do for an encore....walk on water?

6. Zebras: How do you like your officials, one's with with a quick five count and a quick whistle, or ones that don't know the correct back court violation rules? Regardless, unfortunately refs were taking quite a lot of heat after the first weekend of the tournament. Throw-in the debacle at the Big East tournament and it hasn't quite been the officials' month. It should be interesting to see if there are any noticeable differences in this round's games - officials calling things a little tighter/looser, possibly a few more end of games conferences/reviews with the other officials on the court to make sure they got it "right". In any case, let's hope head of officials, John Adams isn't prominently featured in the studio shows like he was last weekend.

7: Bo Knows: We know that Bo Ryan knows where the best place to vacation/retire is, the beaches of....NEW JERRRRRSEY. He also knows a thing or two about Midwest basketball. Before coming to Madison, Ryan was the coach of Milwaukee, and before that he was the coach of UW-Platteville. We'll see just how much Bo knows about Midwest basketball when he has to deal with the Butler Bulldogs. This game probably won't be the track meet that UNC vs. Washington was, instead it will be closer to the Wisconsin-Penn State Big Ten tournament game that had a combined 70 points. Wisconsin may be favored by 5 points, but Butler has figured out a way to win games in March, both this year and last. The Duke-Arizona game might be the more exciting later game, but make sure your you have you eye on Butler-Wisconsin down the stretch.

8: Huskies Run: Saw this interesting stat that means absolutely nothing on the Twitter Machine about UConn. The Huskies are 0-7 since 1992 in NCAA games held in their opponent's state. For the geography majors (from UConn), San Diego is in California, as is Anaheim, where Thursday night's game will be held. That stat aside, can UConn's magical March run continue? The Fighting Kemba's won five games in five days to capture the Big East Tournament Championship, they dismantled Bucknell, and then sent Cincinnati home. Thursday night they'll be in unchartered waters, taking on San Diego State in their backyard. Let's see how the cross country flight and "road game" works out for the dogs this time around.

Happy watching and we'll see you tomorrow with eight more sweet things for Friday night's game.

Day 3 of the Madness: Party Foul

There were eight games on the schedule yesterday and the majority of them did not disappoint. We'll start with the games that weren't as close, and work our way to one of the most bizarre finishes in college basketball tournament history.

Teach Me How To Jimmer: We are betting that there are going to be a lot of babies named Jimmer popping up in about 9 months. The Cougs are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1981 after having no problems with Gonzaga, winning 89-67. Jimmer dropped 34, which means he is averaging a healthy 33 ppg so far this tournament. Now the Cougs will face Florida (who took out UCLA 73-65), in New Orleans. Make sure you brush up on that Honor Code boys.

Kentucky Split: The young Wildcats were able to avenge the school's loss to West Virginia in last year's tournament, beating the Mountaineers 71-63. The problem that hurt the 'Eers all year long was true once again on Saturday - no go-to, crunch time scorer. We miss you Da'Sean Butler. The other Kentucky squad still playing wasn't as lucky, as Morehead St.'s season came to an end at the hands of Richmond. The Spiders, the #12 seed in the Southwest, now await the winner of Kansas-Illinois.

Aztecs, Huskies and Badgers, Oh my: The Fighting Dunphies gave #2 San Diego State all they could handle yesterday, as the Aztecs eeked out a 7 point win in double overtime over Temple. SDSU now faces Kemba and the Huskies in the Sweet 16. UConn disposed of fellow Big East member, Cincinnati. SDSU has a slight advantage, as the game will be played in Anaheim. Meanwhile, Bo Ryan isn't quite ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet. His Wisconsin Badgers ended Jacob Pullen's college career, despite the Beard putting up 38 points. Coach Frank Martin's scowl took over the final few seconds of the game, as he didn't look too pleased with a few of his player's non-execution of a final play - that seemed to be NOT drawn up for Pullen.

Doin' the But: On Thursday, Butler won their game with a put back basket by Matt Howard as time expired. On Saturday, as the Bulldogs took on #1 Pitt, it was the final seconds that once again dictated who won the game. In what was one of the most bizarre endings ever, Butler took the lead with 2 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Gilbert Brown was fouled by Shelvin Mack (it was the right call). Brown at the free throw line, shooting 2, down 1, with .9 seconds left. He makes the first. Tie game. The second, clanks off the iron and Howard pulls down the board. For some reason, Pitt's Nasir Robinson fouls (it was the right call) Howard with .2 seconds left. Howard makes the first, misses the second on purpose, Butler is back in the Sweet 16 and Pitt is back to the Steel City early, once again.

Daily Onions, who normally is in the camp of "let them play" when it comes to officiating, completely agrees with both of the calls made at the end of the game. Officials you are off the hook. The way Pitt handled the late game situation is a teachable moment for basketball players and coaches of all ages. With .9 seconds left, and a tie game, why even risk the possibility for a foul on the rebound. I don't have a problem with Jamie Dixon keeping players on the lane, as this gives Brown a more "normal" look at the foul line (if normal exists at this situation in the game). But you need to be 100% clear with your players to not commit a foul on the potential miss (as Gilbert Brown said after the game - all I needed to do was make the 2nd shot and we wouldn't be having this conversation). Robinson also admitted that is was an awful mistake and that he's been playing basketball for way too long to know better than that. Robinson's foul didn't even look accidental, as he clearly grabbed and hung on to Howard's arm. A bizzare mental lapse by Robinson. It's unfortunate that the game had to end under these circumstances. Mack is lucky he is off the hook for his last second mistake. Unfortunately for Brown and Robinson, this one is going to sting for a while.

The Weekend That Was

We're #1! Wait, who is? That is the question this Monday morning. Over the weekend, #2 Texas lost at Nebraska, #3 Ohio State lost at Purdue, and #4 Pitt lost at St. John's. Throw-in the fact that #1 Kansas got spanked at K-State last Monday, and you have a week where the top 4 teams went down. Next in line is #5 Duke, who after a slow start, disposed of Georgia Tech by 22 points last night. So who deserves the #1 ranking at this point in the season? To be honest, who cares. Let's just rank the Top 5 teams as one group, and list them alphabetically. In our opinion, this is what the Top 5 should look like: #1 Ohio State, #2 Duke, #3 Pitt, #4 Texas, #5 Kansas. We'll see in a few hours if we are correct.

Guess Who's Back? Back again... Johnnies are back, tell a friend. Kudos to Steve Lavin, his hair gel and the rest of the St. John's basketball team. Once upon a time, back on January 4th, we alerted Daily Onions nation to the situation (no Jersey Shore reference intended) at St. John's. Lavin had the kids playing well, and they were coming off opening conference wins against West Virginia and Georgetown. We were hesitant to put both feet on the bandwagon at that point because of a brutal January schedule. We'll the Johnnies survived, and their recent list of wins have included a pummeling of Duke a few weeks ago, wins over Top Ten teams UConn and most recently Pitt, and overall they've won 6 of their last 7 games. With four games remaining, St. John's has a legitimate shot to finish the season 20-10 overall and 12-6 in the beastly Big East. That noise you hear is Steve Lavin's name being etched in the Big East Coach of the Year trophy.

Elsewhere: West Virginia got a "we should be in the tournament" win on Saturday, beating #7 Notre Dame by 14. There were reports that the win would be redacted after the student section stormed the court (as they did after beating Purdue earlier this season), but the Big East will keep the win with the Mountaineers. But seriously, stop storming the court guys. Just go burn some couches or something. Other notable games in the Big East included Villanova and Syracuse both needing overtime to take care of DePaul and Rutgers respectively. Nova and Cuse square off tonight in Philly on Big Monday.

Block heard round the....Pac-10: Exciting finish in Tuscon, as #13 Arizona nipped Washington 87-86, to extend their win streak to 8 games. The Huskies got a good look in the lane with about three seconds left, but super sophomore Derrick Williams had an emphatic "Return to Sender" block to save the potential game winner. Believe me, its worth the watch.

Jimmer Mania: It was a ho-hum day at the office for Jimmer on Saturday, dropping 23 points on TCU, as the Cougs cruised to a 79-56 victory. Trap game for the Cougs on Wednesday night as they host Colorado State, but they'll have their eye on the showdown Saturday at San Diego State. The last time these two teams met, Daily Onions had a running diary of Jimmer mania. Take a look to prep yourself for this weekends rematch.

The Weekend that Was

All they do is Win: As in THE Ohio State University, who is the only remaining unbeaten team in the land and sneaked by Northwestern, 58-57, in the high school gym that is Welsh Ryan Arena in Evanston. Daily Onions jumped on the bandwagon along time ago, and probably isn't getting off OSU until Houston in early April. The thing with the Bucks has been they've found ways to win regardless the situation.  Big game at home (Purdue - win easily), road game that is tough to get up for (Iowa, Northwestern - win by the slimmest of margins), ranked team on the road (Illinois, win). The common theme, Ws. However, three of the next five are on the road for the Bucks, including at Minnesota, at Wisconsin and at Purdue (all ranked opponents).  Highly doubt they come out of that stretch perfect, but as we mentioned in our Final Four projection, a loss here or there is fine.

You'd make this face if you lost four in a row, too. (Post Standard)

We're Goin' Streaking: In a bad way. Syracuse has lost four straight games.  The last time that happened was 2005-06, a season in which Gerry McNamara put the team on his back and led them to a four-day magical run to the Big East Championship. Gerry McNamara ain't walking through that door this season. Well, technically he is, because he is an assistant coach, but you get what I mean. With Daily Onions in attendance against Marquette, the Orange once again started slow and before you knew it, the score was 10-3. Sure, the Golden Eagles shot 53% from the field and 46% from 3-point land (10% higher than their season average). But you can't keep saying, "Well, the other team just shot the heck out of the ball.." (see: Pitt, Villanova, Seton Hall, Marquette). At some point you need to make it uncomfortable for the other team, and Syracuse's defense just isn't doing that in the last two weeks. Offensively, Syracuse wasn't even THAT bad on Saturday.  It was just another case of getting in a hole early, and not being able to overcome that down that stretch (Syracuse tied the game with 8 minutes left, but never took the lead). The worst past of the 4 game losing streak is that it could become five pretty quickly, as the Cuse heads to UConn on Wednesday night. Take it easy on us, Kemba.

Big Beast: It was an interesting weekend in the Big East to say the least. St. John's ended their month from h - e - double hockey sticks with a huge out of conference win over the Dukies, 93-78 (and it wasn't even that close). Pitt was lucky to pull out a 3 point win at Rutgers, while road dogs Louisville and Georgetown took down UConn and Villanova, respectively.

Jimmer Watch: After taking the college hoops world by storm on Wednesday night, Jimmer and the Cougs had a bit of a letdown on Saturday, losing at New Mexico 86-77. Jimmer dropped 32, and also added 7 assists (he can pass!), 5 rebounds and 3 steals (one of his more complete games of the season). The Cougs will get an easier test come Wednesday against Wyoming, who got spanked by 40 by San Diego State. The Aztecs were coming off their first loss of the season to the Jimmers.

Bad Basketball: Some have called Auburn the worst basketball team in a BCS conference this year. If that is the case, what is South Carolina? Auburn got their first conference win on the road at SC, by 15 points!

Gimme Jimmer

Jimmer mania is sweeping the college basketball nation. Daily Onions has only seen his highlights on Sportscenter, so we were pumped to watch the #9 BYU Jimmers host still unbeaten #4 San Diego State. In honor of the joyous occasion, which was being shown on CBS College Sports Network, I decided to keep a running diary of all the action - to help those of you that don't get CBSCSN, or those of you that fall asleep before 10 pm EST/9 pm CST (usually me). This post is inspired by the numerous running diaries by the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons that we've all enjoyed reading over the years. Here it goes (time listed is the time left in the half/game):

I am Jimmer, see me score.

Ted Robinson and Steve Lappas on the call tonight for CBSCSN. Lappas doesn’t know he has a microphone and is yelling uncontrollably. 

18:50 Jimmer misses his first shot, a runner in the lane.

18:37 SDSU's D.J Gay fouled on a 3 pointer. Lappas discusses why you need to get out on shooters – “When a guys is on that kind of fire….you need to close out on him" Never knew there was more than one kind of fire.

18:20 2 on 1 break for BYU – Jimmer keeps it ans is on the board with a layup….

17:55  Jimmer drives to the lane, gets blocked. SDSU didn't get memo that you are NOT allowed to block Jimmer like that…

Nothing important happens in the game, so I realize that Lappas's Bronx accent is out of control. He sounds like he is announcing a boxing match and yelling everytime Robinson stops talking. No way he lasts the entire game at this pace.

14:08 Our first TV timeout, SDSU up 8-6. During the break, I Google Lappas 30 tweets pop up asking why Lappas is yelling so much.

12:15 Jimmer hits his first three pointer. 12-11 SDSU leads.

11:25 Brandon Davies scores again for BYU. Has 8 of their 13. Thinks the 24 NBA Scouts in attendance are there for him. 

10:14 SDSU calls timeout with the score tied at 15. Very quick pace thus far. Jimmer has 5 points.

9:50 Jimmer threads the needle on a ¾ court pass…teammate blows the layup. Jimmer decides he won't pass the ball again.

8:58 Jimmer drives, takes on contact from big man and gets the layup. Has 7 of BYU's 17 points. That drive reminded me of seeing Jameer Nelson(St. Joseph's) at MSG against Gonzaga back in 2003 (the same night my roommate fell in love with Alabama's Chuck Davis). Jimmer says he compares himself to Deron Williams (strength) and Mark Price (shooter/PG)

8:08 Shotclock down to 8, Jimmer hits a 17 ft pull up jumper on the baseline. Has 9 of BYU's 19 points

7:21 Official timeout. Actually the under 12, score tied at 19. Out of the timeout, Jimmer not on the floor, 70 percent of audience changes channel.

6:44 Under 8 timeout. I’m going to be pissed if Jimmer is on the court when the game returns

6:43 Jimmer returns. Then proceeds to jump in the air with nowhere to go and turns it over. Bad Jimmer.

5:14 ANOTHER Foul called. That's 2 fouls in the last 2 minutes. There were 2 fouls in the first 13 minutes. Clean it up guys, you are cutting into Jimmer time.

5:10 Steve Lappas makes a "chopped liver" reference. 

4:41 Jimmer pumps, takes a dribble and nails a 3…has 12 of 22….on the way back down court tells Lappas to stop talking

3:34 Someone just fouled Jimmer, which takes us to under 4 timeout. SDSU leads 24-22 SDSU.

3:12 My first holy sh*t, Jimmer is the man moment. Nasty crossover and drains the three. Has 15 of 25 BYU points.

2:35 Jimmer drives, pulls up..cash 17 points.

1:50 Jimmer drives, draws foul. Makes 1 of 2, BYU is up 28-26. Jimmer has 18.

1:25 Jimmer with the blow by and the layup. 30-26 BYU. Jimmer with 20 points.

:05 SDSU's Kawhi Leonard, who has the flu, drains a three to put SDSU up 31-30 at the half. Jimmer scored the final 15 for BYU, has 20 of team's 30 points.

State of the Onions Address

(From L-R) Raftery, Daily Onions, Johnson

Mr. Raftery, Mr. Johnson, Members of the College basketball community, distinguished guests, and fellow hoop fans:

Today I want to begin by congratulating the men of THE Ohio State University basketball team, as well as your stud freshman Jared Sullinger, for remaining undefeated with a dominating performance over Purdue last night. You truly showed us that you deserve to be ranked number 1 at this point in the season.

It's no secret that those of us reading this today are disappointed in Syracuse's performance last night. The debates over whether or not the Cuse is overrated have been contentious; Daily Onions has fought fiercely for our beliefs that Syracuse is a top tier team. And that's a good thing. That's what a robust fan base does.

But there's a reason Syracuse's three game losing streak has given us pause. Amid all the noise and passions of what team is the best in the Big East, Seton Hall reminded us that no matter who steps on the court on any given night, if you shoot over 60% from behind the arc, the Syracuse zone is in trouble. If your team comes out and sleepwalks through the first 20 minutes of the game, odds are you won't be victorious. Whether or not the Orange can break out of this funk will be back on display this Saturday in Milwaukee. At that point in time, with backs against the wall, we shall see what kind of resolve Coach Boeheim and his boys have.

At stake right now is not who wins the next game — after all, we have games every night. At stake is whether new teams in the top 5, like San Diego State and previously unknown players like Jimmer, make long runs in this upcoming March Madness. It's whether the hard work of mid-majors like Cleveland State, St. Mary's and Utah State is rewarded. It's whether we sustain the leadership from players that have stayed in school for four years, to make sure their school is not just a place on a map, but a team to be reckoned with come March.

That basketball world has changed. And for many, the change has been painful. Kansas State was once ranked in the top 5, and now they are a few games under .500 in Big 12 play. Michigan State has struggled all season, and just dismissed one of their best players from their team. Two other teams from last year's Final Four aren't even ranked right now. We've heard about this in the frustrations of fans who've seen their wins dwindle or their team pride disappear.

The idea of the college basketball season endures. Our destiny remains those three weeks in March. And today, more than five weeks away from Selection Sunday, it's because of our love for the game of basketball and our favorite teams, that our future is hopeful, our journey of a season goes forward, and the state of Daily Onions is strong.

Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the next two months of the college basketball season. (Applause.)

The Weekend that Was

I promise to make it through this entire post.....unless an undetectable injury forces me to stop halfway through, and even if you see my standing around, walking around, disinterested, riding a stationary bike, I promise you, I am really hurt.

Road Warriors: Playing away from home on Saturday wasn't that big of a deal, as a couple of road dogs pulled off impressive wins early in the day.  Ohio State remained unbeaten and even had to come from behind in the second half to put away Illinois. Daily Onions favorite Jared Sullinger had a ho-hum day at the office with 27 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks.

KU messed w/ Texas, and lost.

Despite starting the game on an 18-3 run at home, a place where they've won 69 straight games, #2 Kansas loss for the first time this season to #11 Texas. One concern for the Jayhawks is the inconsistent play of freshman standout Josh Selby. Over the last 6 games, he alternates between scoring right around 15 points, or under 5 points. They'll need him to step it up down the stretch, the Morris brothers can't do it all.

Villanova shot lights out from behind the arc in the first half, which led them to a victory at Syracuse. The Wildcats were 8-13 from 3 in the first 20 minutes of the game and shredded the Cuse zone to own a double-digit lead at the half. The Orange threatened a few times in the second half, but never tied or took the lead. This game brought up the question, what is Jim Boeheim's tipping point to get out of the zone? If shooting 62% and building a 13 point lead doesn't do it, not sure what does. While Nova cooled off from outside in the second half, Syracuse's D still couldn't "stop a nose bleed". Another concern for the Orange had to be the play of Scoop Jardine, who had just 2 points on 1-8 shooting, and looked out of it all game. Despite losing two in a row, Daily Onions doesn't think its time to panic in Boeheimburg. Losing to Pitt and Nova happens in the Big East. Cuse needs to make sure it takes care of business at home against the Hall, and then puts on a show for Daily Onions in person at Marquette next Saturday.

The Jimmer Update: Ninth-ranked BYU won at Colorado State and The Jimmer put up his second 40 point game of the year, dropping 42 on the Rams. Jimmer's 42 consisted of 4 3 pointers, and going 16-17 from the free throw line. Daily Onions "can't wait" to see Wednesday's game when the Cougs host unbeaten and soon to be top 5 team, San Diego State. Now if we only knew what channel CBS College Sports Network was...check your local listings.

Two out of three ain't bad: You can't spell Northwestern without an N or a T, and I guess we'll have to find the I somewhere else. The Wildcats quest for a first-ever NCAA tournament berth has been knocked off track. N'western is already 3-5 in conference play (including a 78-46 loss to Wisconsin yesterday) and has Minnesota, Ohio State and Illinois as its next three. Ouch.

I Got Five On It

Pop quiz, hotshot. There's a basketball game about to start and you need to compile a team from this year's group of college kids. Make sure you fill each position and you might as well pick a coach as well. What do you do? What do you do!? Here's what I do:

C - Jared Sullinger (Freshman, Ohio State): Best player on the best team in the country right now. Sure, I'll take him on my squad. A dominant force in the low post and a good rebounder, also provides some bulk inside to make up for any smaller forwards.

Johnson (center) would be celebrating a lot with this team.

PF - JaJuan Johnson (Senior, Purdue): He's 6-10 and just 225 lbs. He's long and can score from anywhere on the floor. He's developed a nice turn around jump shot, and has shown he can make the big one when needed (hit the game winner against Penn State last night, after leading Purdue with 26 points against WVU on Sunday). On the defensive side of the ball, he can lurk on the weak side and provide a nice shot blocking presence.

SG - Jimmer Fredette (Senior, BYU): Jimmer fever is sweeping the nation, and he leads the entire NCAA Division 1 in scoring. It's a shame the majority of the country doesn't get to see him on a daily basis, but make sure you do some Jimmer homework before the tournament starts, as he will be sure to be a human highlight come March. Let's just hope Gus Johnson or Bill Raftery is announcing his games because we are guaranteed a couple of "From the parking lot" and "Whews" when Jimmer steps on the court.

PG - Kemba Walker (Junior, UConn): Daily Onions hasn't always been the nicest to Kemba Walker. We've acknowledged the good and the bad, but the more and more we watch him we realize that he's got "it". Like when he hit the game winner last weekend at Texas, and then did it again on Monday against Villanova. We still think he shoots a little too much, and might get a little out of control, but he can make it when it matters.

I struggled finding a SF, so I am going to play it safe and go with Kyle Singler (Senior, Duke): He's won a national championship, he's a hard worker, and he'll do anything on the court to win the game.  I can see him taking a back seat to Kemba, Jimmer and Sullinger getting a lot of the shots, and not complaining/worrying about it. Always good to have a do-it-all, unselfish player on your squad.

I'm a little worried about playing with only one basketball, and that's why I am taking Coach K to lead this team.  You have to be impressed with what he's done with USA Basketball over the last 3 years. Getting all those superstars to buy in and play together. We'd need that same game plan with this team.

Who's got next?