Oh no, the mighty Tar Heels have fallen. Like the big Oak Tree, the "best" team in college basketball comes crashing down with even the faint fight of a determined wind (i.e. Boston College.)
Maybe this will put all these pretentious Carolina lovers on notice. A perfect non-conference season means nothing when the real big boys come knocking. And in the big boy stage of things, BC (while talented) is still a little pre-pubescent. They are no (now number 2!) Duke and they are no Wake Forest. So how will the Heels fair once they have to play ACC games night in and night out?
My guess is, that big old oak is gonna fall again. The sad thing is that I know that UNC country won't get it; they won't take notice. Instead, that big brainless oak (no, not Tyler Hansbrough...well, yeah him too) will just keep trying to get back up, pretending it never got knocked down in the first place.
Does the loss send shockwaves throughout college basketball? Yeah. But only because college basketball was too deluded to see the truth anyway.
Does it change anything? No. It doesn't change how overrated they are, how bad they will crumble under the pressure and the smallness of the likelihood they will contend for a National Title.
Time to wake up, the Tar Heels are dying.
Showing posts with label Tyler Hansbrough. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tyler Hansbrough. Show all posts
Monday, January 5, 2009
Thursday, December 25, 2008
>Resolutions for 2009
Unlike most people in the world, I don't like to make resolutions at the new year that I know I just won't keep. So instead, I like to make resolutions for others. So, in no particular order, here are my ten (sports related) resolutions for others as we get ready to ring in 2009:
A legit prospect for the Lions
Like everyone else, I feel for the Detroit Lions of 2008, aka the worst team in NFL history. They need a whole new team, but that trend needs to start with one great franchise player. Sadly, I don't see them getting that man with the first pick in the Draft. God willing, some player looking to make a big mark takes a chance and signs on to be the face of this crummy program.
Ring number 18 in Boston
Sure Christmas day was a hurter, but hardly a setback. Boston is still the best team in the league and nobody has proven that they can beat them consistently, which is what it will take in the playoffs. Sure, 73-9 would be a nice new record, but I want the big three to end up with three rings, so it has to continue sometime. Why not in 2009?
Dewitt Scott; IPFW's first NBA player
The Mad Ants had their first player worked out by an NBA team in their second season recently. And while his name wasn't Dewitt Scott, I hope the former Mastodon keeps putting up decent numbers and gets a chance either this season or if he decides to return to the D-League for 2009-2010. As it looks less and less like former IPFW standout David Simon will get to the league, Witt may be the schools best chance in the near future.
Brett Favre retires...for good
Get it over with already!
The Yankees still lose
I hate rich snobs, therefore I hate the Yankees. Here's hoping that hundreds of millions in free agency doesn't land them squat. Go Sox.
Stephon Marbury returns and wins a title
If anyone deserves good karma, its Marbury for all the crap he has put up with in 2008. While the Knicks keep fumbling around, I hope someone with half a brain is able to land this talent and take him to the promised land.
Someone gets off Sean Avery's back
Oh no, someone didn't like a Sean Avery comment! Is bad press better than no press for the faultering NHL? If anyone gets ragged on more than Marbury, its this poor guy. At least he is a character for your faceless league. Go ahead, be a non-hockey person and name 5 current NHL players that haven't been in the league 10-plus years...yeah, didn't think so. Wake up NHL, embrace him, don't discourage him.
A college football playoff
Do I really need to say more? I know Texas, Texas Tech, Alabama and Utah are with me.
IPFW goes dancing
The program is showing that they can kinda hang this year, even in several defeats. Usually teams that can "kinda hang" during the regular season make good Cinderellas come March.
Coach K gets #4
This has been on my resolution list since 2002 rolled around, Coach K is due and he has the right crop to win now. Waiting until next year is overrated and I am ready for this to happen. Not many people are with me, but honestly there are also way too many haters out there when it comes to Duke basketball. For all of you, focus your attention on the upside of a Duke title: it keeps Tyler Hansbrough's crybaby hands off a title for his college career so he can go flourish as a 12th man in the NBA.
A legit prospect for the Lions
Like everyone else, I feel for the Detroit Lions of 2008, aka the worst team in NFL history. They need a whole new team, but that trend needs to start with one great franchise player. Sadly, I don't see them getting that man with the first pick in the Draft. God willing, some player looking to make a big mark takes a chance and signs on to be the face of this crummy program.
Ring number 18 in Boston
Sure Christmas day was a hurter, but hardly a setback. Boston is still the best team in the league and nobody has proven that they can beat them consistently, which is what it will take in the playoffs. Sure, 73-9 would be a nice new record, but I want the big three to end up with three rings, so it has to continue sometime. Why not in 2009?
Dewitt Scott; IPFW's first NBA player
The Mad Ants had their first player worked out by an NBA team in their second season recently. And while his name wasn't Dewitt Scott, I hope the former Mastodon keeps putting up decent numbers and gets a chance either this season or if he decides to return to the D-League for 2009-2010. As it looks less and less like former IPFW standout David Simon will get to the league, Witt may be the schools best chance in the near future.
Brett Favre retires...for good
Get it over with already!
The Yankees still lose
I hate rich snobs, therefore I hate the Yankees. Here's hoping that hundreds of millions in free agency doesn't land them squat. Go Sox.
Stephon Marbury returns and wins a title
If anyone deserves good karma, its Marbury for all the crap he has put up with in 2008. While the Knicks keep fumbling around, I hope someone with half a brain is able to land this talent and take him to the promised land.
Someone gets off Sean Avery's back
Oh no, someone didn't like a Sean Avery comment! Is bad press better than no press for the faultering NHL? If anyone gets ragged on more than Marbury, its this poor guy. At least he is a character for your faceless league. Go ahead, be a non-hockey person and name 5 current NHL players that haven't been in the league 10-plus years...yeah, didn't think so. Wake up NHL, embrace him, don't discourage him.
A college football playoff
Do I really need to say more? I know Texas, Texas Tech, Alabama and Utah are with me.
IPFW goes dancing
The program is showing that they can kinda hang this year, even in several defeats. Usually teams that can "kinda hang" during the regular season make good Cinderellas come March.
Coach K gets #4
This has been on my resolution list since 2002 rolled around, Coach K is due and he has the right crop to win now. Waiting until next year is overrated and I am ready for this to happen. Not many people are with me, but honestly there are also way too many haters out there when it comes to Duke basketball. For all of you, focus your attention on the upside of a Duke title: it keeps Tyler Hansbrough's crybaby hands off a title for his college career so he can go flourish as a 12th man in the NBA.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Day Four: Major Confereces Part 2
IAD 2008-2009 COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW DAY THREE
BEST OF THE MAJORS PART 2: "ACC/A-10/Pac-10/SEC"
There is a lot to be said for North Carolina, not only in the ACC, but nationally as well. More often than not, the Tar Heels are considered the favorite to walk out of 2009 with a National Title. Sadly, that can almost be said every year of Tyler Hansbrough's tenure at UNC. And no, its not just the Tar Heel hater in me that expects them to fail (ok, that's a part of it). Everyone from Chapel Hill to Durham (and even places not on Tobacco Road) need to face the real facts that UNC are not closers. Hansbrough, coach Roy Williams, Ty Lawson and company are all more pretender than champion. UNC will be good, but also beatable in the clutch.
And even as a hardcore Blue Devil fan, I can't put all my objective (ha) professional faith in Coach K and company. Honestly they have a lot to prove and their two main weaknesses are glaring. The most notable is in the post where Brian Zoubek isn't exactly a stud and Kyle Singler isn't most efficient. Hopefully Miles Plumlee will alleviate this issue some. Also, they froze in the clutch. Their tournament time wouldn't have been as good as it was had it not been for Gerald Henderson while the rest of the team folded like laundry (and that's putting it nicely).
Behind them, 3 through 10 in the ACC is pretty even with Miami on the verge of their best ACC season to date.
Xavier should run away in the Atlantic 10, even though Dayton, St. Joe's, Temple and Charlotte will all mae noise in their own ways. The Musketeers return just under 30 points in CJ Anderson, Derrick Brown and BJ Raymond alone. Tack on two 6'8'' transfers and a seven-foot freshman and this team should blow them all away.
I am not exactly sure how to feel about the Pac-10 just yet. It's obvious that UCLA will take the crown out there yet again. They lost three pretty significant players, but return three more of equal calibar. Darren Collison in the best player in the conference, hands down, and the people around him will make his job easier. Even their freshman class is stacked with five players from the Top 50. Arizona has a decent team, led by Chase Budinger, but they have had plenty of offseason perils with the retirement of coach Lute Olsen and the loss of Brandon Jennings to international play. I question the Wildcat focus at this point. USC has plenty of talent to work with even if OJ Mayo is gone, but I still think that UCLA is far and away in a league of their own. The problem with this conference is it is much more of an individual talent team outside of UCLA, much like the ACC is outside of Duke and Carolina.
In the SEC, things look pretty different everywhere you look. Each team lost someone quite important to their nucleus in the offseason and it will be interesting to see who bounces back quickest. Tennessee has a solid core still and should be the team to beat, but I think that Billy Donovan's Florida Gators will return to the promised land sooner than later. They struggled badly after the loss of Joakim Noah and company, but Nick Calathes played so strong last year and should put the Gators back at the top of at least the SEC East and back into the NCAA's.
Individually, I am loving Dionte Christmas at Temple. Even with a down year for the Atlantic 10, this guy is sensational and will be one of the nation's top individual players. Tyrese Rice fits into that same category and is explosive as an individual but saddled with an at-best sub par team in Boston College. Though I'm not liking them as much, you can go ahead and throw Chris Warren from Ole Miss and Devan Downey of South Carolina in that same 'good player, mediocre team' catagory as the season begins.
AD Vassallo at Virginia Tech and AJ Ogilvy at Vanderbilt will be make or break players for their schools. Ogilvy, just a sophomore, will be a First Team player in the SEC and may even contend for conference player of the year honors. Also, watch Taj Gibson at USC to see if he can pick up the slack of the departed OJ Mayo. The pressure is on Gibson to lead a still talented Trojan team that also has a lot of new faces. Also under coach Tim Floyd, keep an eye out for Romeo Miller (son of rapper/ex-short term NBA player Percy "Master P" Miller). I don't expect him to do much at all, but it will still be interesting to watch him on the court.
ALL-MAJOR (ACC, A-10, PAC-10, SEC) CONFERENCE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) - Player of the Year
Kyle Singler (Duke)
Darren Collison (UCLA)
Dionte Christmas (Temple)
James Harden (Arizona State)
AJ Ogilvy (Vanderbilt)
OTHER MAJOR (ACC, A-10, PAC-10, SEC) PLAYERS TO WATCH
Gerald Henderson (Duke)
Tyrese Rice (Boston College)
Jack McClinton (Miami)
Ty Lawson (UNC)
AD Vassallo (Virginia Tech)
Jeff Teague (Wake Forest)
Chase Budinger (Arizona)
Josh Shipp (UCLA)
Taj Gibson (USC)
Jon Brockman (Washington)
Walter Hodge (Florida)
Jai Lucas (Florida)
Patrick Patterson (Kentucky)
Marcus Thornton (LSU)
Chris Warren (Ole Miss)
Devan Downey (South Carolina)
IAD CONFERENCE CHAMPION PREDICTIONS (if different than regular season winner, automatic bid recipient will follow in bold)
ACC: Duke - North Carolina (NCAA Bid)
A-10: Xavier
PAC-10: UCLA
SEC: Tennessee (East), LSU (West) - Tenneessee (NCAA Bid)
BEST OF THE MAJORS PART 2: "ACC/A-10/Pac-10/SEC"
There is a lot to be said for North Carolina, not only in the ACC, but nationally as well. More often than not, the Tar Heels are considered the favorite to walk out of 2009 with a National Title. Sadly, that can almost be said every year of Tyler Hansbrough's tenure at UNC. And no, its not just the Tar Heel hater in me that expects them to fail (ok, that's a part of it). Everyone from Chapel Hill to Durham (and even places not on Tobacco Road) need to face the real facts that UNC are not closers. Hansbrough, coach Roy Williams, Ty Lawson and company are all more pretender than champion. UNC will be good, but also beatable in the clutch.
And even as a hardcore Blue Devil fan, I can't put all my objective (ha) professional faith in Coach K and company. Honestly they have a lot to prove and their two main weaknesses are glaring. The most notable is in the post where Brian Zoubek isn't exactly a stud and Kyle Singler isn't most efficient. Hopefully Miles Plumlee will alleviate this issue some. Also, they froze in the clutch. Their tournament time wouldn't have been as good as it was had it not been for Gerald Henderson while the rest of the team folded like laundry (and that's putting it nicely).
Behind them, 3 through 10 in the ACC is pretty even with Miami on the verge of their best ACC season to date.
Xavier should run away in the Atlantic 10, even though Dayton, St. Joe's, Temple and Charlotte will all mae noise in their own ways. The Musketeers return just under 30 points in CJ Anderson, Derrick Brown and BJ Raymond alone. Tack on two 6'8'' transfers and a seven-foot freshman and this team should blow them all away.
I am not exactly sure how to feel about the Pac-10 just yet. It's obvious that UCLA will take the crown out there yet again. They lost three pretty significant players, but return three more of equal calibar. Darren Collison in the best player in the conference, hands down, and the people around him will make his job easier. Even their freshman class is stacked with five players from the Top 50. Arizona has a decent team, led by Chase Budinger, but they have had plenty of offseason perils with the retirement of coach Lute Olsen and the loss of Brandon Jennings to international play. I question the Wildcat focus at this point. USC has plenty of talent to work with even if OJ Mayo is gone, but I still think that UCLA is far and away in a league of their own. The problem with this conference is it is much more of an individual talent team outside of UCLA, much like the ACC is outside of Duke and Carolina.
In the SEC, things look pretty different everywhere you look. Each team lost someone quite important to their nucleus in the offseason and it will be interesting to see who bounces back quickest. Tennessee has a solid core still and should be the team to beat, but I think that Billy Donovan's Florida Gators will return to the promised land sooner than later. They struggled badly after the loss of Joakim Noah and company, but Nick Calathes played so strong last year and should put the Gators back at the top of at least the SEC East and back into the NCAA's.
Individually, I am loving Dionte Christmas at Temple. Even with a down year for the Atlantic 10, this guy is sensational and will be one of the nation's top individual players. Tyrese Rice fits into that same category and is explosive as an individual but saddled with an at-best sub par team in Boston College. Though I'm not liking them as much, you can go ahead and throw Chris Warren from Ole Miss and Devan Downey of South Carolina in that same 'good player, mediocre team' catagory as the season begins.
AD Vassallo at Virginia Tech and AJ Ogilvy at Vanderbilt will be make or break players for their schools. Ogilvy, just a sophomore, will be a First Team player in the SEC and may even contend for conference player of the year honors. Also, watch Taj Gibson at USC to see if he can pick up the slack of the departed OJ Mayo. The pressure is on Gibson to lead a still talented Trojan team that also has a lot of new faces. Also under coach Tim Floyd, keep an eye out for Romeo Miller (son of rapper/ex-short term NBA player Percy "Master P" Miller). I don't expect him to do much at all, but it will still be interesting to watch him on the court.
ALL-MAJOR (ACC, A-10, PAC-10, SEC) CONFERENCE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) - Player of the Year
Kyle Singler (Duke)
Darren Collison (UCLA)
Dionte Christmas (Temple)
James Harden (Arizona State)
AJ Ogilvy (Vanderbilt)
OTHER MAJOR (ACC, A-10, PAC-10, SEC) PLAYERS TO WATCH
Gerald Henderson (Duke)
Tyrese Rice (Boston College)
Jack McClinton (Miami)
Ty Lawson (UNC)
AD Vassallo (Virginia Tech)
Jeff Teague (Wake Forest)
Chase Budinger (Arizona)
Josh Shipp (UCLA)
Taj Gibson (USC)
Jon Brockman (Washington)
Walter Hodge (Florida)
Jai Lucas (Florida)
Patrick Patterson (Kentucky)
Marcus Thornton (LSU)
Chris Warren (Ole Miss)
Devan Downey (South Carolina)
IAD CONFERENCE CHAMPION PREDICTIONS (if different than regular season winner, automatic bid recipient will follow in bold)
ACC: Duke - North Carolina (NCAA Bid)
A-10: Xavier
PAC-10: UCLA
SEC: Tennessee (East), LSU (West) - Tenneessee (NCAA Bid)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
>And the exile begins...
Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, : good riddance.
The NCAA exile has already begun and I can't wait until the list is complete. You guys might as well take OJ Mayo and Derrick Rose with you, because it's coming and I don't want them anymore. If you are a freshman and going to the NBA, then you and that league full of jackasses deserve each other. If you are 19 and your family is not living in poverty, then keep your butt in school.
If you are a junior and you feel it's your best time to go, then more power to you. Some of you will get your degrees in three years, others have enough discipline to still get that degree (Stanford's Lopez twins) and very few of you will be big-headed jerks that think you are above the sport.
Kids who think they are too good for college basketball ruin the purity of the most pure level of the sport that still exists. And as a big-time college basketball fan, I say that the NCAA is better off without you. So, goodbye.
(This will be the one and only time that I admire Tyler Hansbrough. He could have gone to the league as a lottery pick at any point, but chose to try and lead his school to a national title.)
Oh and good luck five years into your NBA career when your knee gives out and you have nothing to fall back on. Or, when the league passes you by and you are forced to work at a hardware store to try to make ends meet and fail to pay child support for your 10 kids by 8 moms (yes, a Jason Caffey shoutout).
The NCAA exile has already begun and I can't wait until the list is complete. You guys might as well take OJ Mayo and Derrick Rose with you, because it's coming and I don't want them anymore. If you are a freshman and going to the NBA, then you and that league full of jackasses deserve each other. If you are 19 and your family is not living in poverty, then keep your butt in school.
If you are a junior and you feel it's your best time to go, then more power to you. Some of you will get your degrees in three years, others have enough discipline to still get that degree (Stanford's Lopez twins) and very few of you will be big-headed jerks that think you are above the sport.
Kids who think they are too good for college basketball ruin the purity of the most pure level of the sport that still exists. And as a big-time college basketball fan, I say that the NCAA is better off without you. So, goodbye.
(This will be the one and only time that I admire Tyler Hansbrough. He could have gone to the league as a lottery pick at any point, but chose to try and lead his school to a national title.)
Oh and good luck five years into your NBA career when your knee gives out and you have nothing to fall back on. Or, when the league passes you by and you are forced to work at a hardware store to try to make ends meet and fail to pay child support for your 10 kids by 8 moms (yes, a Jason Caffey shoutout).
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