Tis the season for turkey, travel, Thanksgiving, the start of college basketball and ...... ONIONS! Yesterday we got our first taste of college basketball onions, when Butler's Rotnei Clark gave the Bulldogs the last second victory over Marquette at the Maui Invitational. See for yourself...
The one unfortunate thing about this game, is that is was played in the early session of the Maui Invitational, which meant that Bill Raftery was NOT on the call. We all know what would have happened if Raftery was on the airwaves. Let's flashback to Raftery in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, where we get 3 Onions calls in the final minutes of the Ohio State-Siena game, including a "Double-Order" to cap things off.
Raftery is back on the mic tonight calling the North Carolina-Butler game. Let's hope there are a few orders of Onions on the menu tonight.
Showing posts with label UNC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UNC. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Fun Fact Friday: CamORANGEflage
Fun Fact Friday is back after a one week hiatus due to the nuptials of loyal reader Ramy, who is currently enjoying his honeymoon in Hawaii. Enjoy this post on the beach while sipping a fruity cocktail. Also, put some more sunscreen on your head.
Anyway, back to the fun-ness that is Fun Fact Friday. We are exactly 2 weeks away from Syracuse tipping things off against San Diego State on the Battle of the Midway. It was announced on Wednesday that Syracuse will be rocking some Nike camouflage jerseys, similar to what Michigan State and North Carolina wore last year during their deck top match-up.
No sign of the 'Cuse jerseys posted online yet, but we are looking forward to the potential. Will it be worth shelling out the $60-80 to pick up a new basketball shorts? If they look good, I'd say strong to quite strong. Why not represent 'Cuse and our Armed Forces.
P-Shump Update: For all of you Orange fans that were wondering, "Hmmm, I wonder what Preston Shumpert is up to these days?" Well, now you know. The Syracuse Post Standard reported yesterday that Shumpert is recovering from a tendon injury in his finger; an injury sustained while playing in Turkey. Here we thought the only competitive sport happening in Turkey was this season of The Challenge on MTV. Turns out Shump has been playing in Europe for the last decade. According to the article, Shumpert, his wife and two kids live in the Syracuse area. Anyone know where Deshaun Williams is?
Orange Cut Day: Ok, so this isn't fun, but its worth noting. In the past week, Johnny Flynn and "I'm Sorry" Rick Jackson have been released/cut from NBA teams. Andy Rautins is one of four players fighting for one position in Oklahoma City. Odds are, Andy is next to be gone. Donte Green isn't on a team as he rehabs from an injury. Rough stretch for a couple of guys that played together up on the Hill. Jackson and Rautins are who we thought they were, but man, imagine if Flynn and Green would have stayed in school for another year or two. Ahh, what could have been.
No sign of the 'Cuse jerseys posted online yet, but we are looking forward to the potential. Will it be worth shelling out the $60-80 to pick up a new basketball shorts? If they look good, I'd say strong to quite strong. Why not represent 'Cuse and our Armed Forces.
P-Shump Update: For all of you Orange fans that were wondering, "Hmmm, I wonder what Preston Shumpert is up to these days?" Well, now you know. The Syracuse Post Standard reported yesterday that Shumpert is recovering from a tendon injury in his finger; an injury sustained while playing in Turkey. Here we thought the only competitive sport happening in Turkey was this season of The Challenge on MTV. Turns out Shump has been playing in Europe for the last decade. According to the article, Shumpert, his wife and two kids live in the Syracuse area. Anyone know where Deshaun Williams is?
Orange Cut Day: Ok, so this isn't fun, but its worth noting. In the past week, Johnny Flynn and "I'm Sorry" Rick Jackson have been released/cut from NBA teams. Andy Rautins is one of four players fighting for one position in Oklahoma City. Odds are, Andy is next to be gone. Donte Green isn't on a team as he rehabs from an injury. Rough stretch for a couple of guys that played together up on the Hill. Jackson and Rautins are who we thought they were, but man, imagine if Flynn and Green would have stayed in school for another year or two. Ahh, what could have been.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Swimming and Kicking at NCAA Tourney Open Practices
Prior to the Sweet 16 and Final 4 games, the NCAA hosts "open practices" to the public, where you can come in and watch the teams on the court for an hour or so. Don't expect to see what the team's gameplan will be, though. You mostly get lots of shooting drills, lots of fancy dunks in layup lines, maybe see the team run through a few sets, and barely see the coaches or players break a sweat. With that said, its cool for the fans to get a behind the scenes look at some top programs in the country.
The highlight of the open practice is the half-court shootout to end practice. All teams do it differently. It could be a nonchalant group of guys chucking it up from center court. Others will have two teams to see who can make more shots in a certain amount of time. During the season, Butler's basketball team (and you thought you wouldn't see them in a NCAA tourney post), finishes their day of game walk thru on the road with assistant coaches, radio guys, trainers, etc shooting from half court, with the players watching. Practice isn't officially over until someone makes it. Brad Stevens became a bit superstitious when he realized that when a certain staff member made it, the team would play poorly. Prior to the UIC game, that person wasn't allowed to shoot, and Butler won a few hours later.
Back to the Sweet 16 open practices. Two great videos below. The first is Marquette's head coach, Buzz Williams (who we have in the Final Four), sinking a half court shot and then doing his best Michael Phelps impersonation.
The next video doesn't come on a half court shot, but still pretty impressive. Syracuse walk-on Brandon Reese, who is listed at 5-11 (on two phone books), goes up for an alley-oop (impressive that he can get up that high), can't quite throw it down, but uses his foot to put the ball through the hoop. Check it out.
Less than nine hours away until the Sweet 16 tips off. In no particular order, here are our picks for the next round of games: Syracuse over Wisconsin (sending Bo Ryan to vacation in South Jersey), Michigan State over Louisville, Ohio State over Cincy, Marquette over Florida. Big East sends 2 of 4 teams to the Elite 8. Tomorrow night, we got Baylor over Xavier, UNC over Ohio, Kentucky over Indiana and Kansas over NC State. Yes, you can call us Chalky White.
(videos courtesy of muathletics and fizzfirst on youtube)
The highlight of the open practice is the half-court shootout to end practice. All teams do it differently. It could be a nonchalant group of guys chucking it up from center court. Others will have two teams to see who can make more shots in a certain amount of time. During the season, Butler's basketball team (and you thought you wouldn't see them in a NCAA tourney post), finishes their day of game walk thru on the road with assistant coaches, radio guys, trainers, etc shooting from half court, with the players watching. Practice isn't officially over until someone makes it. Brad Stevens became a bit superstitious when he realized that when a certain staff member made it, the team would play poorly. Prior to the UIC game, that person wasn't allowed to shoot, and Butler won a few hours later.
Back to the Sweet 16 open practices. Two great videos below. The first is Marquette's head coach, Buzz Williams (who we have in the Final Four), sinking a half court shot and then doing his best Michael Phelps impersonation.
The next video doesn't come on a half court shot, but still pretty impressive. Syracuse walk-on Brandon Reese, who is listed at 5-11 (on two phone books), goes up for an alley-oop (impressive that he can get up that high), can't quite throw it down, but uses his foot to put the ball through the hoop. Check it out.
Less than nine hours away until the Sweet 16 tips off. In no particular order, here are our picks for the next round of games: Syracuse over Wisconsin (sending Bo Ryan to vacation in South Jersey), Michigan State over Louisville, Ohio State over Cincy, Marquette over Florida. Big East sends 2 of 4 teams to the Elite 8. Tomorrow night, we got Baylor over Xavier, UNC over Ohio, Kentucky over Indiana and Kansas over NC State. Yes, you can call us Chalky White.
(videos courtesy of muathletics and fizzfirst on youtube)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
ONIONS Rivers
In the words of loyal reader @mpenz21, "welcome to the Duke-UNC Rivalry, Austin Rivers." The only thing that would have made last night's ONIONS moment better, would have been if Bill Raftery was on the call....(check that, two things would have made it better) and if Rivers pulled a Sam Cassell and did the big marbles dance after he hit the shot.
Just in case you missed it live, like @bradsmit did, here's Rivers firmly planting himself into the greatest moments of the Duke-UNC Rivalry.
Let's say this first. Unbelievable individual performance from freshman Austin Rivers last night. Check out this line: 39 minutes (out of 40), 29 points on 9-16 shooting, including 6-10 from behind the arc. Also chipped in with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
Now, let's really look at what happened in the last few minutes of last night's game. Bottom line, North Carolina should have never lost that game, especially on their home court.
Just in case you missed it live, like @bradsmit did, here's Rivers firmly planting himself into the greatest moments of the Duke-UNC Rivalry.
Let's say this first. Unbelievable individual performance from freshman Austin Rivers last night. Check out this line: 39 minutes (out of 40), 29 points on 9-16 shooting, including 6-10 from behind the arc. Also chipped in with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
Now, let's really look at what happened in the last few minutes of last night's game. Bottom line, North Carolina should have never lost that game, especially on their home court.
- Duke went on a 13-2 run to end the game.
- Seth Curry got a way with a walk prior to hitting a three with 1:48 left, which brought Duke to within four points.
- Tyler Zeller not only scored in his own basket (accidentally tipped in an errant three pointer) in the final 20 seconds to cut the UNC lead to 1 point, but he also missed a a free throw with 13.9 seconds left, which would have given the Tar Heels a 3 point lead (Zeller actually went 2-4 from the line in the final 44 seconds of the game). Oh, and he also was the one guarding Rivers when he hit the three, giving him too much space for Rivers to get a great look at the game winner. Zeller, who picked up Rivers on the switch, needed to guard him closely and make sure he didn't get off a three. Even if Rivers goes around you, the worst thing that happens is he hits a two and we are going to overtime. Definitely a final few minutes that Zeller will want to forget.
- 2:35. That was the point at which UNC scored their last FG of the game, a Harrison Barnes jumper.
- In the final 4 minutes of the game, Duke had 3 offensive rebounds and a steal, which directly led to 10 points.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Heavyweight Week - Top Ten Matchups Highlight College Basketball
If last week was "Feast Week," according to ESPN's marketing department, because of the great games/lineup in the Maui Invitational (along with that whole Thanksgiving holiday thing), then Daily Onions is dubbing this week "Heavyweight Week." Think about it, the only suitable follow up to a week of feasting, is a week of being a heavyweight.
Actually, "Heavyweight Week" references the all the Top 10 match ups that we have this week. Last night's hyped up game (no, not Syracuse vs. Eastern Michigan), featured #2 Ohio State vs. #4 Duke. Not sure we can even say Duke was there though. After dropping behind the Buckeyes 11-0 to start the game, the Blue Devils were able to get back into the game to make it close halfway through the first half. From that point on, it was ALL (and I mean all) Ohio State. A few thoughts from the game:
-Austin Rivers crossover.....oh my. Quickest since.....Iverson? D. Rose? Man, that thing is impressive. He's got a decent jumper too. With that said, let's remember, Rivers has only played 7 college basketball games. Still lots to be learned.
-Sullinger, Buford, Craft and.....Deshaun Thomas (who?): We all knew Ohio State would depend on their big three of Sullinger, Buford and Craft. We rode the Buckeyes hard last year, and then Sullinger and mostly Buford pulled the disappearing act in their Sweet 16 loss to Kentucky. These two (Sullinger 21, Buford 17) along with Craft (17 and 8 assists) were on top of their games on Tuesday night, and it was a bit of a coming out party for sophomore Deshaun Thomas. Check out the 6-7 swingman's line: 8-12 from the field, 2-4 from 3, 18 points and 5 rebounds. Thomas now averaging 12 points a game on the season. He'll be key for the Buckeyes, who try to replace the scoring of David Lighty and Jon Diebler.
-I think I heard Dick Vitale cheating on Duke a bit, as he praised Sullinger and Buford throughout the night.
-LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were in attendance for the big game as well. LeBron was comfortable being there, since there isn't a 4th quarter in college basketball games (heyoooooo).
-One more thought on Duke: They are really going to miss Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Rivers is the only player on that team can create his own shot, and he isn't really a distributor yet. Curry is deadly from outside, but Ryan Kelly, the Plumlees, etc shouldn't really scare people.
With last night's game being a bit of a dud. We'll hope the rest of the marquee match ups live up to the hype.
Tonight: #9 Wisconsin vs. #5 UNC - The Tar Heels were anointed the head and shoulders favorite coming into this season, but have been knocked off their pedestal after a loss to UNLV in Vegas over the weekend. Harrison Barnes has a slightly injured ankle coming into tonight's game. UNC's Kendall Marshall is one of the best PG's in the country (from a getting teammates involved standpoint), but is a liability on defense. It will be interesting to see if he can match up with Wisconsin's preseason All-American Jordan Taylor. Daily Onions is a fan of freshman P.J. Hairston (McDonald's All-American last year), who leads the team in 3-point percentage and can get to the rim as well. We also like what we saw from junior guard Dexter Strickland against UNLV. Look for him to be a spark for the Heels tonight.
Friday: #4 Syracuse vs. #10 Florida - By far the toughest test for the Orange thus far this season. They needed to comeback wins in NYC last week to beat Virginia Tech and Stanford. Besides those games, they've handled the likes of Colgate, Eastern Michigan, Albany, Manhattan, etc. Will be interesting to see what Jim Boeheim does with Rakeem Christmas, Michael Carter Williams, and even James Sutherland. In tight games w/ Tech and Stanford, Boeheim tightened his rotation (as we've seen over the years) to 7 guys (Joseph, Scoop, Waiters, Triche, Fair, Fab, and Keita). Florida, whose only defeat this year was a seven point loss at Ohio State (ask Duke if its tough to play there). Last year, many people thought the Gators were a year away from being a contender. Well, now we're here. Keep your eye on freshman Bradley Beal, who hit 5 three pointers last time out. Throw in Kenny Boynton in the backcourt, the Gators will be ready to chomp (too easy) on the 'Cuse 2-3 zone.
Saturday: #5 UNC vs. #1 Kentucky - UNC took a little air out of this matchup after losing to UNLV. A loss tonight to Wisconsin would raise even more questions about Roy Williams' squad. Kentucky once again is stacked with freshman. Their starting five, which includes three freshmen, all average in double figures. Anthony Davis, from Chicago, might be the number 1 pick in the NBA Draft next year. Sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb (leading the team in scoring this year) add some experience for the Cats this season, who have already beaten Kansas by ten two weeks ago. Before they get UNC, Kentucky hosts St. John's on Thursday.
Daily Onions picks for Heavyweight Week: UNC over Wisconsin, Cuse over Florida and Kentucky over UNC.
***Now you can get Daily Onions posts delivered to your email inbox! In the upper right hand corner, type in your email address and a new blog entry will be emailed to you once it is posted. Thanks for reading! ***
Actually, "Heavyweight Week" references the all the Top 10 match ups that we have this week. Last night's hyped up game (no, not Syracuse vs. Eastern Michigan), featured #2 Ohio State vs. #4 Duke. Not sure we can even say Duke was there though. After dropping behind the Buckeyes 11-0 to start the game, the Blue Devils were able to get back into the game to make it close halfway through the first half. From that point on, it was ALL (and I mean all) Ohio State. A few thoughts from the game:
-Austin Rivers crossover.....oh my. Quickest since.....Iverson? D. Rose? Man, that thing is impressive. He's got a decent jumper too. With that said, let's remember, Rivers has only played 7 college basketball games. Still lots to be learned.
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| Aaron Craft arguably the best PG in the country (Pic: US Presswire/SI.com) |
-I think I heard Dick Vitale cheating on Duke a bit, as he praised Sullinger and Buford throughout the night.
-LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were in attendance for the big game as well. LeBron was comfortable being there, since there isn't a 4th quarter in college basketball games (heyoooooo).
-One more thought on Duke: They are really going to miss Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Rivers is the only player on that team can create his own shot, and he isn't really a distributor yet. Curry is deadly from outside, but Ryan Kelly, the Plumlees, etc shouldn't really scare people.
With last night's game being a bit of a dud. We'll hope the rest of the marquee match ups live up to the hype.
Tonight: #9 Wisconsin vs. #5 UNC - The Tar Heels were anointed the head and shoulders favorite coming into this season, but have been knocked off their pedestal after a loss to UNLV in Vegas over the weekend. Harrison Barnes has a slightly injured ankle coming into tonight's game. UNC's Kendall Marshall is one of the best PG's in the country (from a getting teammates involved standpoint), but is a liability on defense. It will be interesting to see if he can match up with Wisconsin's preseason All-American Jordan Taylor. Daily Onions is a fan of freshman P.J. Hairston (McDonald's All-American last year), who leads the team in 3-point percentage and can get to the rim as well. We also like what we saw from junior guard Dexter Strickland against UNLV. Look for him to be a spark for the Heels tonight.
Friday: #4 Syracuse vs. #10 Florida - By far the toughest test for the Orange thus far this season. They needed to comeback wins in NYC last week to beat Virginia Tech and Stanford. Besides those games, they've handled the likes of Colgate, Eastern Michigan, Albany, Manhattan, etc. Will be interesting to see what Jim Boeheim does with Rakeem Christmas, Michael Carter Williams, and even James Sutherland. In tight games w/ Tech and Stanford, Boeheim tightened his rotation (as we've seen over the years) to 7 guys (Joseph, Scoop, Waiters, Triche, Fair, Fab, and Keita). Florida, whose only defeat this year was a seven point loss at Ohio State (ask Duke if its tough to play there). Last year, many people thought the Gators were a year away from being a contender. Well, now we're here. Keep your eye on freshman Bradley Beal, who hit 5 three pointers last time out. Throw in Kenny Boynton in the backcourt, the Gators will be ready to chomp (too easy) on the 'Cuse 2-3 zone.
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| UK's Davis (Kentucky.com) |
Saturday: #5 UNC vs. #1 Kentucky - UNC took a little air out of this matchup after losing to UNLV. A loss tonight to Wisconsin would raise even more questions about Roy Williams' squad. Kentucky once again is stacked with freshman. Their starting five, which includes three freshmen, all average in double figures. Anthony Davis, from Chicago, might be the number 1 pick in the NBA Draft next year. Sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb (leading the team in scoring this year) add some experience for the Cats this season, who have already beaten Kansas by ten two weeks ago. Before they get UNC, Kentucky hosts St. John's on Thursday.
Daily Onions picks for Heavyweight Week: UNC over Wisconsin, Cuse over Florida and Kentucky over UNC.
***Now you can get Daily Onions posts delivered to your email inbox! In the upper right hand corner, type in your email address and a new blog entry will be emailed to you once it is posted. Thanks for reading! ***
Friday, October 14, 2011
College Basketball is Back! (Kind of)
A wise man once said, "I don't know if it will make any change, but I figure its time for me to start playing ball." That wise man was Jimmy Chitwood. And in the spirit of Jimmy, Hoosiers and basketball, Daily Onions doesn't know if it will make any change, but we figure its time for us to start writing about basketball.
With the official kickoff of college basketball season (practices at least) tonight with "Midnight Madness", Daily Onions takes a look at what's on tap for the upcoming season:
1. Preseason Rankings!! We actually wrote about how stupid preseason rankings were last year in December after Harrison Barnes, a preseason 1st Team All-American before he even put on the baby blue Tar Heel uniform, struggled out of the gate, and UConn, the eventual National Champion catapulted to #9 a few weeks into the season, after being left out of the Top 25 preseason poll. This season's Top 5 Preseason Poll looks like this:
3. Road Trippin': While the schedule Gods did not grace us with a Big E Hoops Weekend Round 2 scenario, Daily Onions is planning on hitting the road to catch lots of games in person this season. We'll catch the Cuse at Notre Dame in January, we are taking a trip to see Brad Stevens and Hinkle Field House for a Butler game, we'll see what Big East teams roll through the Windy City to play DePaul, and will be sure to catch some Big Ten action up in Evanston. In short, we love college basketball, and we can wait to watch it....as I am sure that goes for the First Lady of Daily Onions as well.
With that said, in order to live up to our Jimmy Chitwood promise, we'll be posting weekly leading up to the start of the season, and then will get things going a bit more from there. We are only 9 posts away from 100, so we'll be sure to have a HUGE celebration commemorating some of our favorites from the first 100, and previewing what the second hundred have in store.
Thanks for reading, and here's to a great college basketball season.
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| Check out video of Jimmy Chitwood Gettin' Back into the Game |
1. Preseason Rankings!! We actually wrote about how stupid preseason rankings were last year in December after Harrison Barnes, a preseason 1st Team All-American before he even put on the baby blue Tar Heel uniform, struggled out of the gate, and UConn, the eventual National Champion catapulted to #9 a few weeks into the season, after being left out of the Top 25 preseason poll. This season's Top 5 Preseason Poll looks like this:
- UNC: Harrison Barnes, Kyler Zeller, John Henson, Kyle Marshall all return. That should be enough. Throw in two McDonald All-Americans....the early favorite to win it all and run the table.
- Kentucky: Terrence Jones surprised everyone and came back to school, along with Doron Lamb (the 2nd best Lamb in college bball), and Darius Miller. Coach Cal, the snake oil salesman, also brings in the two of the best freshman in the country in Anthony Davis (Chicago) and Michael Gilchrist (NJ). Good combo of NJ and Chicago there.
- UConn: The Defending Champs bring back Jeremy Lamb, the little brother of Daily Onions loyal reader, Ramy. He joins one of our favorite big man underclassmen from last year, Alex Oriakhi, along with Shabazz Nappier, Roscoe Smith, and Tyler "White" Olander. Stud newcomer Andre Drummond will help as well.
- Syracuse: Oh, no (Cuse is in the House). High expectations for the Orange this year? That can't be good for the Cuse faithful. Everyone's favorite PG to hate, Scoop Jardine is back to run the show. All reports say that Scoop had a great summer at various camps and a stint w/ Team USA. Let's hope he learned how to be smart with the ball. The Cuse also returns Kris Joseph, who was picked as a 1st Team All-American. And that's right there is why we talk about how preseason rankings don't mean anything. We love Joseph, but a 1st Team All-American?!? Prove me wrong, Kris. Rounding things out for the Cuse are Brandon Triche, CJ Fair (Daily Onions Favorite), Dion Waiters (hopefully with a new attitude), Fab Melo, Baye Moussa Keita, James Southerland, Mookie Jones, Andy Rautins, Otis Hill.......right, you get it. The Orange return a lot. They also bring in 2 McDonalds All-Americans in Rakeem Christmas (lots of puns coming your way) and Michael Carter Williams. Trevor Cooney is another frosh, who folks are hoping can light the Dome up from outside.
- Ohio State University: No THE this year for OSU. Since we picked them to win it all, and they decided to bounce in the Sweet 16, you get no love from Daily Onions....for now. Once we see that large backside of Jared Sullinger (he actually slimmed down, though), I'm sure we'll rekindle the love. William Buford and Aaron Craft important returners for the Buckeyes.
- Duke: Yes, we can count. Duke is #6. Quick thought on the Blue Devils. They have arguably the best freshman in Austin Rivers, they return guards Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins, and now have three, yes THREE Plumlee brothers (not that that means anything). We are very excited to see Austin Rivers play. When we saw him at the McDonald's All-American game, we called him "Steph Curry with a little more pop".....whatever that means.
3. Road Trippin': While the schedule Gods did not grace us with a Big E Hoops Weekend Round 2 scenario, Daily Onions is planning on hitting the road to catch lots of games in person this season. We'll catch the Cuse at Notre Dame in January, we are taking a trip to see Brad Stevens and Hinkle Field House for a Butler game, we'll see what Big East teams roll through the Windy City to play DePaul, and will be sure to catch some Big Ten action up in Evanston. In short, we love college basketball, and we can wait to watch it....as I am sure that goes for the First Lady of Daily Onions as well.
With that said, in order to live up to our Jimmy Chitwood promise, we'll be posting weekly leading up to the start of the season, and then will get things going a bit more from there. We are only 9 posts away from 100, so we'll be sure to have a HUGE celebration commemorating some of our favorites from the first 100, and previewing what the second hundred have in store.
Thanks for reading, and here's to a great college basketball season.
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Saturday, September 17, 2011
Syracuse in the Eye of Conference Realignment Hurricane
There aren't many things that could bring Daily Onions out of hibernation before the start of the college basketball season. However, there are a few things...in no particular order:
We really wish we were writing about one of the first three items on that list. But instead it looks as if Syracuse, one of the founding members of the Big East Conference back in 1979, is packing its bags and heading to the ACC.
Our initial reaction, as you would expect from a life-long fan and alum of Syracuse, is anger, disgust and sadness. While football is obviously driving this decision, we immediately turn our thoughts to the effect on Syracuse basketball. Let's think about the potential changes we'll see:
We'll take it one step further. Conference realignment is a hurricane, and it is coming straight for the Big East. Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross gets a call that says "if you know what's good for you, evacuate now." The storm is coming, and you are better off getting to a safer place now because we don't know how bad this could get.
How bad could it get for the Big East? Well, there might not BE a Big East (somewhere Mike Tranghese is crying). With rumors of four super conferences emerging - Pac12, Big 10, SEC and ACC - said hurricane could take out what we all once knew as the Big East.
If Syracuse ignores the evacuation warning, and like a stubborn homeowner on the east coast in the eye of the storm, says "I built this place, I'm not going anywhere," they could end up standing on the roof of their house waiting for someone to rescue them. If Syracuse waits to long, there might not be anyone coming to pick them up.
We're not quite ready to embrace this potential change, and it will indeed take some time to get used to it. But if this hurricane is as bad as it could be, we should be glad Syracuse got out before it was too late.
- A face to face meeting with Daily Onions favorite Brad Stevens
- Winning a contest that allows us to go to the Final Four the next 10 years
- Daily Onions being bought by a huge sports website
- A monumental move that changes the landscape for Syracuse and Big East Athletics.
We really wish we were writing about one of the first three items on that list. But instead it looks as if Syracuse, one of the founding members of the Big East Conference back in 1979, is packing its bags and heading to the ACC.Our initial reaction, as you would expect from a life-long fan and alum of Syracuse, is anger, disgust and sadness. While football is obviously driving this decision, we immediately turn our thoughts to the effect on Syracuse basketball. Let's think about the potential changes we'll see:
- Long-time rivalries with Georgetown and UConn, become yearly matchups with Wake Forest and Virginia (yes, as well as Duke and UNC....still, not the same).
- The Big East Tournament every March at Madison Square Garden turns into a trip to Greensboro, NC...I hear its lovely in early March.
- At least 4-5 games on ESPN's Big Monday, with Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery calling the game, the obvious best team of college basketball announcers in the business. We'll now have to endure Mike Patrick and Dick Vitale making out with each other on the air while talking about how good Duke is.
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| Hurricane Realignment headed straight for Big East |
We'll take it one step further. Conference realignment is a hurricane, and it is coming straight for the Big East. Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross gets a call that says "if you know what's good for you, evacuate now." The storm is coming, and you are better off getting to a safer place now because we don't know how bad this could get.
How bad could it get for the Big East? Well, there might not BE a Big East (somewhere Mike Tranghese is crying). With rumors of four super conferences emerging - Pac12, Big 10, SEC and ACC - said hurricane could take out what we all once knew as the Big East.
If Syracuse ignores the evacuation warning, and like a stubborn homeowner on the east coast in the eye of the storm, says "I built this place, I'm not going anywhere," they could end up standing on the roof of their house waiting for someone to rescue them. If Syracuse waits to long, there might not be anyone coming to pick them up.
We're not quite ready to embrace this potential change, and it will indeed take some time to get used to it. But if this hurricane is as bad as it could be, we should be glad Syracuse got out before it was too late.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Big: East Region
We've saved the best for last. In my opinion, and the opinion of many others, the East Region is the toughest out there. Let's dive right in because there is lots to discuss.
'Cuse is in the House: The Orange are taking their talents to Cleveland for Round 1 and will take on the Fighting Larry Birds from Indiana State. If they are able to avoid the upset bid from the #14 seed, they'll either play #6 Xavier (in Cleveland - Thank you selection committee!) or #11 Marquette, a Big East foe that Syracuse lost to in January. Not going to lie, but the second round scares us. Xavier is a sneaky team and they'll have somewhat of a home-court advantage, while Marquette is a team that knows Syracuse, plays them every year, and has a victory against them two months ago. If Cuse can get out of Round 2, we'll feel better about things. The East Region is located in Newark, NJ aka Syracuseville East. Potential Sweet 16 opponent is North Carolina, a match up we kind of like. Hold that thought.
Big East Tournament, Part 2: We know Cuse and Marquette are in this bracket, but there's also #9 Villanova and #5 West Virginia. Nova hasn't won a game in ages, so we are going to go with everyone's favorite flashback Cinderella, #8 George Mason. Meanwhile, Huggie Bear and the boys will actually tip in the first game on Thursday in Tampa, taking on Clemson (a team that just played late Tuesday night in Dayton - Thank you Selection Committee! Love, Clemson). What will definitely be a grind it out, physical game, we are going to take WVU. An added bonus would be Bob Huggins rubbing one of his player's faces, or at least getting nose to nose during a timeout. Potential second round game for WVU puts them against Kentucky, the team they upset last year to go to the Final Four. Huggins also owns Calipari, so while Kentucky looks to have more talent, don't count out the Eers.
You Never Forget Your First: Get your mind out of the gutter. Just about three months ago, Daily Onions made our first Final Four projection of the year. Since then, we've been riding the bandwagon of Sullinger, Diebler, Lighty, Buford, Lauderdale and Craft, aka THE Ohio State University. In case you forgot, this is what we wrote back on December 21 on why OSU would make the Final Four: Dominant Player (Sullinger) + Experience (Lighty played with Havlicek) + Tough, but not too tough of a schedule (Two road losses to the second and third best teams in the conference) = OSU in Final 4. We are sticking to our guns, and Ohio State will be in Houston. It pains me to say, but after taking down Kentucky, OSU will take out Syracuse in the Elite 8 (who would have beat UNC in the Sweet 16) to cut down the nets in Newark.
And then what? Our Final Four includes OSU, Duke, Kansas and Florida. When we first filled out our bracket on Monday, we had OSU beating Duke. Even with new information available and all signs pointing to Duke's Kyrie Irving ready to see some action this week, we are still going to go with OSU. (By the way, the "Chance Irving plays this week" news on Twitter on Tuesday was the equivalent of the public address announcer saying "Daniel LaRusso is going to fight" at the All Valley Karate Championship in 1984. I can only imagine what Twitter would have looked like if people heard what Myagi did in the locker room). OSU will face the Rock Chalk Jayhawk in the National Championship Game, and with a final score of 70-66, Jared Sullinger does his best Carmelo Anthony impression and leads his team to a National Championship as a freshman.
Now that we've gotten that all taken care of, we can watch some basketball! Odds that our picks are even relatively close to what actually happens....no chance. Odds that your picks are close...you tell us! Show us YOUR Onions. Lots of entries came in on Wednesday, so make sure you don't miss out on the fun. I mean who wouldn't want an entire Daily Onions post about them??
'Cuse is in the House: The Orange are taking their talents to Cleveland for Round 1 and will take on the Fighting Larry Birds from Indiana State. If they are able to avoid the upset bid from the #14 seed, they'll either play #6 Xavier (in Cleveland - Thank you selection committee!) or #11 Marquette, a Big East foe that Syracuse lost to in January. Not going to lie, but the second round scares us. Xavier is a sneaky team and they'll have somewhat of a home-court advantage, while Marquette is a team that knows Syracuse, plays them every year, and has a victory against them two months ago. If Cuse can get out of Round 2, we'll feel better about things. The East Region is located in Newark, NJ aka Syracuseville East. Potential Sweet 16 opponent is North Carolina, a match up we kind of like. Hold that thought.
Big East Tournament, Part 2: We know Cuse and Marquette are in this bracket, but there's also #9 Villanova and #5 West Virginia. Nova hasn't won a game in ages, so we are going to go with everyone's favorite flashback Cinderella, #8 George Mason. Meanwhile, Huggie Bear and the boys will actually tip in the first game on Thursday in Tampa, taking on Clemson (a team that just played late Tuesday night in Dayton - Thank you Selection Committee! Love, Clemson). What will definitely be a grind it out, physical game, we are going to take WVU. An added bonus would be Bob Huggins rubbing one of his player's faces, or at least getting nose to nose during a timeout. Potential second round game for WVU puts them against Kentucky, the team they upset last year to go to the Final Four. Huggins also owns Calipari, so while Kentucky looks to have more talent, don't count out the Eers.
You Never Forget Your First: Get your mind out of the gutter. Just about three months ago, Daily Onions made our first Final Four projection of the year. Since then, we've been riding the bandwagon of Sullinger, Diebler, Lighty, Buford, Lauderdale and Craft, aka THE Ohio State University. In case you forgot, this is what we wrote back on December 21 on why OSU would make the Final Four: Dominant Player (Sullinger) + Experience (Lighty played with Havlicek) + Tough, but not too tough of a schedule (Two road losses to the second and third best teams in the conference) = OSU in Final 4. We are sticking to our guns, and Ohio State will be in Houston. It pains me to say, but after taking down Kentucky, OSU will take out Syracuse in the Elite 8 (who would have beat UNC in the Sweet 16) to cut down the nets in Newark.
And then what? Our Final Four includes OSU, Duke, Kansas and Florida. When we first filled out our bracket on Monday, we had OSU beating Duke. Even with new information available and all signs pointing to Duke's Kyrie Irving ready to see some action this week, we are still going to go with OSU. (By the way, the "Chance Irving plays this week" news on Twitter on Tuesday was the equivalent of the public address announcer saying "Daniel LaRusso is going to fight" at the All Valley Karate Championship in 1984. I can only imagine what Twitter would have looked like if people heard what Myagi did in the locker room). OSU will face the Rock Chalk Jayhawk in the National Championship Game, and with a final score of 70-66, Jared Sullinger does his best Carmelo Anthony impression and leads his team to a National Championship as a freshman.
Now that we've gotten that all taken care of, we can watch some basketball! Odds that our picks are even relatively close to what actually happens....no chance. Odds that your picks are close...you tell us! Show us YOUR Onions. Lots of entries came in on Wednesday, so make sure you don't miss out on the fun. I mean who wouldn't want an entire Daily Onions post about them??
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Weekend That Was
FINALLY!!! The regular season of college basketball is over. Postseason is here, or has been here for a few days thanks to a few conference tournaments that got underway last week. Lots to catch up on from the weekend, including the first four tickets being punched for the dance, rush season on college campuses and some crying in one NBA locker room (there's no crying in basketball!?)
First Four In: The past few weeks we've been hearing hypotheticals of the last four teams in the tournament and which four teams are the last four out. Well now we have four teams that are officially in. Congrats to Belmont (Atlantic Sun), UNC-Asheville (Big South), Morehead St. (Ohio Valley) and Indiana State (Larry Bird! - Missouri Valley) for guaranteeing their spot in the dance. Indiana State pulled the upset over Missouri State to get in, which means Mizzou St. will be one of those mid-majors now hanging out on the bubble. Take note of Morehead St. as well, as they feature Kenneth Faried, the nation's (not conference, the NATION) leading rebounder. The kid averages 14.5 per game and is slated to be a late first round pick in the NBA draft.
Five for Fighting: As in five days for fighting in Madison Square Garden because this year's Big East Tournament is sure to be a slug-fest. Top four seeds (Pitt, ND, L'ville and Cuse) get the double-bye (winning!) and are off until Thursday. Who would have thought that Villanova and UConn would be playing on Tuesday, as the 9th and 10th seed. Well, we kind of did and that's why we featured them in our teams not peaking at the right time post last week. Take the Villanova name off their tournament resume and it's nothing special. A loss on Tuesday would probably put them on the good side of the bubble, but I think a big reason for that comes from some name recognition. Throw in the fact that Corey Stokes is questionable for games this week with an injury, Jay Wright and his pinstripes have to be a bit nervous. Meanwhile, Syracuse is in the New Jersey/New York portion of the bracket, as they'll face the winner of St. John's and Rutgers/Seton Hall. Daily Onions doesn't see a team out of the top four seeds winning this tournament, but then again it is the Big East and anything is possible.
Take Your Shirt Off: North Carolina, come on and raise up. It's official. The Tar Heels are back. We missed you last year, but are glad to see you are here just in time for March! UNC pretty much led the whole way against Duke on Saturday night, and with the win clinched the regular season ACC title. Freshman Harrison Barnes is finally starting to live up to the expectations and the Tar Heels have settled in with their new point guard Kendall Marshall running the show (15 pts, 11 assists). Daily Onions is still standing by their claim of Duke as a Final Four team, although we'd like to see a little more toughness from Blue Devils from here on out.
Elsewhere: Daily Onions first Final Four pick, THE Ohio State University made a statement on Sunday, telling the rest of the nation that they are the team to beat heading into the NCAA tournament. A near perfect performance by the Buckeyes yesterday led to a butt-whooping of Wisconsin, avenging the earlier loss in Madison. OSU was 14-15 from 3 pt. land (Diebler was 7-8) and shot 68% from the field. Jared Sullinger and his backside went for 22 and 8. In the SEC, Florida is quietly playing some of the best basketball in the country and locked up the SEC title yesterday at Vanderbilt. Meanwhile, Kentucky FINALLY got a win on the road, taking care of Tennessee 64-58. Are the Wildcats finally starting to grow up and learning how to win on the road? It will take more than a win at Jekyll and Hyde Tennessee to convince us.
Storm Troopers: It was a tough day to be a court side security guard in college basketball this weekend. Court storming was contagious as we saw it in Iowa's win over Purdue (acceptable); in Chapel Hill after UNC beat Duke (HIGHLY disappointed in Tar Heel fans - National Championship 2 years ago, beating your rival handily at home, act like you've been there); out west San Diego State fans stormed to celebrate a share of the Mountain West Conference title (ehhh, sure why not - it's been a Cinderellaly type of year for the Aztecs). We'll probably see a few more storms this week as some of the smaller conference tournaments come to an end. In these cases, Daily Onions says go ahead and storm the court, Bethune Cookman fans. Enjoy your 15 minutes, and then make sure you buckle up for your 15 or 16 seed in the Big Dance.
Cry-ami Heat: According to Coach Spo, a couple of the Heat players were crying in the locker room after yesterday's 1-point loss the Da Bulls. Maybe crying will help the team that has lost four in a row and five of their last six. Bottom line, the Heat can't close. They are 1-9 against the league's top five teams, and 0-6 against the Celtics and the Bulls. Most of those games have been close, and down the stretch they are 1-18 from the field in the final 10 seconds with the chance to tie or take the lead (on odd days of even months). We all knew it'd take time for the Heat to really become a dominating team, but the fact that LeBron, Wade and Bosh have been coming up short in the clutch is a bit surprising (well, minus Bosh). That'll have to change come May, as the Eastern Conference playoffs will have five pretty scary teams in play (Celtics, Bulls, Heat, Magic, Knicks). Big shots will need to be made, and there won't be much time for tears.
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| Indiana State scored an upset and an automatic bid this weekend |
Five for Fighting: As in five days for fighting in Madison Square Garden because this year's Big East Tournament is sure to be a slug-fest. Top four seeds (Pitt, ND, L'ville and Cuse) get the double-bye (winning!) and are off until Thursday. Who would have thought that Villanova and UConn would be playing on Tuesday, as the 9th and 10th seed. Well, we kind of did and that's why we featured them in our teams not peaking at the right time post last week. Take the Villanova name off their tournament resume and it's nothing special. A loss on Tuesday would probably put them on the good side of the bubble, but I think a big reason for that comes from some name recognition. Throw in the fact that Corey Stokes is questionable for games this week with an injury, Jay Wright and his pinstripes have to be a bit nervous. Meanwhile, Syracuse is in the New Jersey/New York portion of the bracket, as they'll face the winner of St. John's and Rutgers/Seton Hall. Daily Onions doesn't see a team out of the top four seeds winning this tournament, but then again it is the Big East and anything is possible.
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| Great win for UNC, but storm-worthy? Not so sure. |
Elsewhere: Daily Onions first Final Four pick, THE Ohio State University made a statement on Sunday, telling the rest of the nation that they are the team to beat heading into the NCAA tournament. A near perfect performance by the Buckeyes yesterday led to a butt-whooping of Wisconsin, avenging the earlier loss in Madison. OSU was 14-15 from 3 pt. land (Diebler was 7-8) and shot 68% from the field. Jared Sullinger and his backside went for 22 and 8. In the SEC, Florida is quietly playing some of the best basketball in the country and locked up the SEC title yesterday at Vanderbilt. Meanwhile, Kentucky FINALLY got a win on the road, taking care of Tennessee 64-58. Are the Wildcats finally starting to grow up and learning how to win on the road? It will take more than a win at Jekyll and Hyde Tennessee to convince us.
Storm Troopers: It was a tough day to be a court side security guard in college basketball this weekend. Court storming was contagious as we saw it in Iowa's win over Purdue (acceptable); in Chapel Hill after UNC beat Duke (HIGHLY disappointed in Tar Heel fans - National Championship 2 years ago, beating your rival handily at home, act like you've been there); out west San Diego State fans stormed to celebrate a share of the Mountain West Conference title (ehhh, sure why not - it's been a Cinderellaly type of year for the Aztecs). We'll probably see a few more storms this week as some of the smaller conference tournaments come to an end. In these cases, Daily Onions says go ahead and storm the court, Bethune Cookman fans. Enjoy your 15 minutes, and then make sure you buckle up for your 15 or 16 seed in the Big Dance.
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| We'd hide too if we lose four in a row |
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Things Fall Apart
Shout out to my high school freshman year Honors English class in today's title. A little Chinua Achebe references for the literature buffs. Daily Onions wants to show its more than just basketball. I'd say its 99.9% basketball, and 0.1% of random mentions.
So, what exactly fell apart last night in the college hoops world? Where to start? North Carolina, Villanova, Syracuse?
Let's begin close to our heart. Syracuse and Georgetown. One of the classic rivalries in college basketball. After a back and forth first half, in which Cuse took a two point lead into the locker room, there was more of the same in half number two. Coming down the stretch though, it seemed like the Orange were taking control of the game. The surprise was that they were doing this with Rick Jackson on the bench in foul trouble. Daily Onions favorite CJ Fair did what he does, 12 points and 5 rebounds, while Baye Mousa Keita patrolled the middle of the lane (4 points, 4 rebounds, 5 blocks) with Jackson out. With about five minutes left, "I'm Sorry" came back into the game with Cuse holding a slim lead. From that point on, it was all Hoyas. G-town ends the game on a 14-3 run (two touchdowns to one field goal), and that's that. It seemed like the game just evaporated before the Orange's eyes. And with the loss, they've dropped three straight at the Carrier Dome.
Less than an hour later, off the NJ Turnpike, the Rutgers-Villanova game was coming to end. With 4:28 left in the game, Nova's Corey Fisher drained a 3 pointer to give the Cats a 67-54 lead. Time to head for the exits right? Not so fast, my friend (Corso, Lee). Four minutes later, James Bell drained a 3 pointer to give the Cats a 75-70 lead with 17 seconds left. Let's leave now, beat the traffic, all Nova has to do is make some free throws. Nope. A three by Rutgers made it 75-73 with 11 seconds left. They foul Corey Fisher with 9 seconds left. Fisher, a NJ native and a 79% FT shooter, could seal the game with two makes. He makes one. As a Villanova fan, you have to think, "That's ok, we are still up three with 9 seconds left, there is no way we should lose this game in regulation. At worse, we go to OT." Hmm, not quite. Rutgers makes a three with 0.8 seconds left.....and gets FOULED! Now, when you watch the replay the call is definitely questionable. It looks like there was some contact on the elbow, but that play probably doesn't get called just as much as it does. Jonathan Mitchell makes his free throw, and the Rut pulls off their biggest win of the Mike Rice Era.
Right around that time, down in Durham, North Carolina, arguably the best rivalry in sports was underway, Duke vs. North Carolina. Blue Devils were the preseason favorite, but with an injury to their top player, they've shown they are beatable. UNC has started to turn things around recently, winning 7 of their first 8 conference games. But this game was at Cameron Indoor, so most experts were picking Duke to win this one. Three minutes into the game, the score was 10-2. North Carolina. At the half, UNC led 43-29. Just like everyone expected. Dukies, have no fear because you got two guys by the names of Nolan Smith and Seth Curry. Smith went for 34, and Curry went for 22, as they combined for 21 made buckets. The comeback, granted it was at home, shows that Duke's still got it (even with out Kyrie), and is one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the country.
So what team had the bigger collapse last night? Congratulations, Villanova. No reason you should give up a 13 point lead to Rutgers in the final four minutes, and no reason you should even be close enough to someone shooting a three with two seconds left that the official could mistakenly think you fouled him. I'm sure Jay Wright already has this game in their rear view though. They have Pitt coming to town on Saturday night. Should be a real dog....I mean cat fight.
So, what exactly fell apart last night in the college hoops world? Where to start? North Carolina, Villanova, Syracuse?
Let's begin close to our heart. Syracuse and Georgetown. One of the classic rivalries in college basketball. After a back and forth first half, in which Cuse took a two point lead into the locker room, there was more of the same in half number two. Coming down the stretch though, it seemed like the Orange were taking control of the game. The surprise was that they were doing this with Rick Jackson on the bench in foul trouble. Daily Onions favorite CJ Fair did what he does, 12 points and 5 rebounds, while Baye Mousa Keita patrolled the middle of the lane (4 points, 4 rebounds, 5 blocks) with Jackson out. With about five minutes left, "I'm Sorry" came back into the game with Cuse holding a slim lead. From that point on, it was all Hoyas. G-town ends the game on a 14-3 run (two touchdowns to one field goal), and that's that. It seemed like the game just evaporated before the Orange's eyes. And with the loss, they've dropped three straight at the Carrier Dome.
Less than an hour later, off the NJ Turnpike, the Rutgers-Villanova game was coming to end. With 4:28 left in the game, Nova's Corey Fisher drained a 3 pointer to give the Cats a 67-54 lead. Time to head for the exits right? Not so fast, my friend (Corso, Lee). Four minutes later, James Bell drained a 3 pointer to give the Cats a 75-70 lead with 17 seconds left. Let's leave now, beat the traffic, all Nova has to do is make some free throws. Nope. A three by Rutgers made it 75-73 with 11 seconds left. They foul Corey Fisher with 9 seconds left. Fisher, a NJ native and a 79% FT shooter, could seal the game with two makes. He makes one. As a Villanova fan, you have to think, "That's ok, we are still up three with 9 seconds left, there is no way we should lose this game in regulation. At worse, we go to OT." Hmm, not quite. Rutgers makes a three with 0.8 seconds left.....and gets FOULED! Now, when you watch the replay the call is definitely questionable. It looks like there was some contact on the elbow, but that play probably doesn't get called just as much as it does. Jonathan Mitchell makes his free throw, and the Rut pulls off their biggest win of the Mike Rice Era.
Right around that time, down in Durham, North Carolina, arguably the best rivalry in sports was underway, Duke vs. North Carolina. Blue Devils were the preseason favorite, but with an injury to their top player, they've shown they are beatable. UNC has started to turn things around recently, winning 7 of their first 8 conference games. But this game was at Cameron Indoor, so most experts were picking Duke to win this one. Three minutes into the game, the score was 10-2. North Carolina. At the half, UNC led 43-29. Just like everyone expected. Dukies, have no fear because you got two guys by the names of Nolan Smith and Seth Curry. Smith went for 34, and Curry went for 22, as they combined for 21 made buckets. The comeback, granted it was at home, shows that Duke's still got it (even with out Kyrie), and is one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the country.
So what team had the bigger collapse last night? Congratulations, Villanova. No reason you should give up a 13 point lead to Rutgers in the final four minutes, and no reason you should even be close enough to someone shooting a three with two seconds left that the official could mistakenly think you fouled him. I'm sure Jay Wright already has this game in their rear view though. They have Pitt coming to town on Saturday night. Should be a real dog....I mean cat fight.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Not Exactly Street Legal
With the recent rumors/allegations/stories of Jets QB Mark Sanchez having a relationship with a 17-year old girl, we got thinking about some of the underclassmen in college basketball the Daily Onions has a "crush" on (you see the connection, right? A little weird, bit of a stretch, yes...but just go with it). The requirements for our list include the player being a freshman or sophomore, and that's about it. Let's get to it:
The Well-Known: These four individuals have been talked about in Daily Onions previously.
Jared Sullinger - Freshman - THE Ohio State University: We've said it before and we'll say it again. Sullinger is close to a lock for Big Ten player of the year, and is at least in the conversation for National Player of the Year. He is a very important reason that the Buckeyes are one of our Final Four teams as of now.
Terrence Jones - Freshman - University of Kentucky: Athletic player with lots of different tools - can score inside and outside, can rebound (11 last night, including 5 on the offensive glass, block shots (4 last night). He loves to take a few dribbles and spin when he drives, and teams are starting to pick up on that, so he'll need to add something else to his repertoire (yes, I just said repertoire).
Tobias Harris - Freshman - University of Tennessee: As we mentioned yesterday, Harris spurned Syracuse for Tennessee. He's got a great basketball body at 6-8, 225 - and is averaging a solid 14 and 7 this season. Projected to be a late first rounder, let's hope he's on our favorite sophomore list next year, and not riding the pine in the Association.
Harrison Barnes - Freshman - University of North Carolina: We felt a little bad for Harrison, since he was named to a preseason 1st Team All-American without playing a college game. He had a very slow start, which made that honor even more puzzling. But he, and UNC, has started put things together as they are 7-1 in the conference. BIG test for Harrison and Co. tonight at Cameron Indoor.
Sneaky: These players aren't going to wow you every game (maybe a play here and that as you'll see), but they do the little things, fill up the stat sheets in a lot of different areas and are players most coaches would love to have as their supporting cast.
Dominic Cheek - Sophomore - Villanova University: Despite playing for one of the biggest rivals of my alma mater, Cheek is a Jersey kid (St. Anthony's) that played for Bob Hurley Sr., so you know he plays hard. He can knock down the open shot, can defend and will do the dirty work for you.
Alex Oriakhi - Sophomore - UConn: Jeez, another player from a rival school. The man in the middle for UConn isn't quite raw, I'd say medium rare. He's a big body and has some nice moves and a nice touch around the basket (averages 10 and 8 this season). Should aspire to be the next Rick Jackson.
CJ Fair - Freshman - Syracuse University: Finally, someone in Orange. For those Cuse fans out there, Fair is Josh Pace 2.0. His coming out party was his performance at Pitt when Kris Joseph was out. Since then, when given the opportunity, he's been a spark off the bench. He's what you'd call a glue guy.
Aaron Craft - Freshman - THE Ohio State University: You can book Craft as an extra in the Hoosiers remake as well (Central Casting: Craft and Sheehey are both white with buzzcuts. Sullinger, Lighty, Diebler, Lauderdale, and Buford are the names most people know, but Craft is starting to make a name for himself at the point position. He comes off the bench, runs the team, makes a few defenders look stupid here and there, and goes about his business. The Buckeyes only go seven deep, so he is an important piece off the bench.
Will Sheehey - Freshman - Indiana University: An under recruited swingman from Florida, Sheehey puts the myth that "white men can't jump" to rest. Don't believe me - check this out. Blake Griffin watched this clip and was impressed. If they were remaking the film Hoosiers, Sheehey could be one of the players. Tom Crean has Sheehey and the rest of the squad playing hard as heck, and they've had some decent wins in the last two weeks (Illinois, Minnesota).
In Name Only: These three deserve to be at least mentioned on this list. To be quite honest though, because of their west coast location (woo hoo East Coast Bias!!!), Daily Onions hasn't been able to see many of their games. Instead of just rehashing their stats of the web, we'll just leave it as a mentioning of their names. In case you get stuck at a dinner party discussing the best underclassman in the country - make sure you mention these three.
Perry Jones - Freshman - Baylor University - Projected as the a top 3 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Jordan Hamilton - Sophomore - Texas - Has the Longhorns as a potential 1 seed in the tourney.
Derrick Williams - Sophomore - Arizona - Best player in the Pac-10, potential top 3 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
The Well-Known: These four individuals have been talked about in Daily Onions previously.
Jared Sullinger - Freshman - THE Ohio State University: We've said it before and we'll say it again. Sullinger is close to a lock for Big Ten player of the year, and is at least in the conversation for National Player of the Year. He is a very important reason that the Buckeyes are one of our Final Four teams as of now.
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| Barnes and UNC are back on track |
Tobias Harris - Freshman - University of Tennessee: As we mentioned yesterday, Harris spurned Syracuse for Tennessee. He's got a great basketball body at 6-8, 225 - and is averaging a solid 14 and 7 this season. Projected to be a late first rounder, let's hope he's on our favorite sophomore list next year, and not riding the pine in the Association.
Harrison Barnes - Freshman - University of North Carolina: We felt a little bad for Harrison, since he was named to a preseason 1st Team All-American without playing a college game. He had a very slow start, which made that honor even more puzzling. But he, and UNC, has started put things together as they are 7-1 in the conference. BIG test for Harrison and Co. tonight at Cameron Indoor.
Sneaky: These players aren't going to wow you every game (maybe a play here and that as you'll see), but they do the little things, fill up the stat sheets in a lot of different areas and are players most coaches would love to have as their supporting cast.
Dominic Cheek - Sophomore - Villanova University: Despite playing for one of the biggest rivals of my alma mater, Cheek is a Jersey kid (St. Anthony's) that played for Bob Hurley Sr., so you know he plays hard. He can knock down the open shot, can defend and will do the dirty work for you.
Alex Oriakhi - Sophomore - UConn: Jeez, another player from a rival school. The man in the middle for UConn isn't quite raw, I'd say medium rare. He's a big body and has some nice moves and a nice touch around the basket (averages 10 and 8 this season). Should aspire to be the next Rick Jackson.
CJ Fair - Freshman - Syracuse University: Finally, someone in Orange. For those Cuse fans out there, Fair is Josh Pace 2.0. His coming out party was his performance at Pitt when Kris Joseph was out. Since then, when given the opportunity, he's been a spark off the bench. He's what you'd call a glue guy.
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| Aaron is "Crafty" (heyooo) with the ball for the Bucks |
Will Sheehey - Freshman - Indiana University: An under recruited swingman from Florida, Sheehey puts the myth that "white men can't jump" to rest. Don't believe me - check this out. Blake Griffin watched this clip and was impressed. If they were remaking the film Hoosiers, Sheehey could be one of the players. Tom Crean has Sheehey and the rest of the squad playing hard as heck, and they've had some decent wins in the last two weeks (Illinois, Minnesota).
In Name Only: These three deserve to be at least mentioned on this list. To be quite honest though, because of their west coast location (woo hoo East Coast Bias!!!), Daily Onions hasn't been able to see many of their games. Instead of just rehashing their stats of the web, we'll just leave it as a mentioning of their names. In case you get stuck at a dinner party discussing the best underclassman in the country - make sure you mention these three.
Perry Jones - Freshman - Baylor University - Projected as the a top 3 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Jordan Hamilton - Sophomore - Texas - Has the Longhorns as a potential 1 seed in the tourney.
Derrick Williams - Sophomore - Arizona - Best player in the Pac-10, potential top 3 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
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