1/4/09
Jeff drops Mamadi Diane from UVA and picks up Sean Mosley from Maryland
1/5/09
Tom Sheehey All Stars drops Greg Paulus from Duke and picks up Farnold Degand from NC State
1/5/09
Bill drops Dorenzo Hudson from Va. Tech and picks up Greg Paulus from Duke
Monday, January 5, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Transaction
The Tom Sheehey All Stars are dropping Diakite and picking up Assane Sene.
I figure I ought to have one UVA player to root for.
I figure I ought to have one UVA player to root for.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Return of the posts
Hello, everybody. Our ACC draft is over. Everybody's team has played at least a game. UVA has it's first conference win of the season. All is right with the world.
I will update this blog approximately twice a week from now through the end of the season. Most of the posts will comment on the games during the week and weekend.
I'll post up to date standings for our ACC fantasy league here as well.
Standings through 12-29-2008
I will update this blog approximately twice a week from now through the end of the season. Most of the posts will comment on the games during the week and weekend.
I'll post up to date standings for our ACC fantasy league here as well.
Standings through 12-29-2008
1 Jason L (49)
2 Cameron Crazies (43.5)
3 Tobacco Rogues (41)
4 Charles (37.5)
5 Derek (37)
6 Tom Sheehey A.S. (36.5)
7 Quiet Giants (34.5)
8 Blue Foot Ballers (31.5)
9 Kelly (23)
10 Bill (22.5)
11 Adam T (18)
12 Jeff (15.5)
Sunday, November 23, 2008
2008 NC State Preview show
Below is the final preview show that is aired anywhere in my area. I will post more articles as the season progresses. As always, below is a running diary of the preview show, not necessarily a preview column for the team.
Minute 2: Jenn Hildreth (It’s nice to have you back.) lets us know the tale of two seasons we saw out of NC State last year. Coming off a miraculous 2006 ACC tourney run in which they made the championship game as a 10 seed, NC State looked like they were going to roll right into the NCAA tournament.
They started 15-7 with a 4-4 conference record at the halfway point. Then, they completely went in the tank. The Wolfpack lost their last nine games of the season.
Hildreth tells us that the good news is there is nowhere to go but up. You can always count on Jenn Hildreth to put a silver lining on any dark cloud.
Minute 4: Ben McCauley, speaking about the loss of Hickson, lets us know that as long as they have him, Costner, Trevor Ferguson and Dennis Horner, then they will have a great inside-outside game. Ben, why don’t you just say you would be happy to play with me and some of the guys from my 2-9 rec league team a few years back. You’d probably get the same production. Horner and Ferguson combined to score barely seven points a game last year. Horner scored 4.6 ppg as a freshman and actually saw his production decline. Yikes!
Minute 6: NC State took a preseason trip to Toronto. I bet that was nice. Most teams go to Costa Rica, Panama or Europe for their preseason trips. This is right out of Wayne’s World. Hi… we’re… in… Toronto.
Minute 7: Well, Hardees’, it took you 6 shows, but you’ve finally done it. I’m going to order a Thickburger today.
Minute 11: The interview with head coach Sidney Lowe commences. Here is a trivia question for you: Who is the ACC career leader in assist to turnover ratio? You think you can guess. I’ll give you five but you only need one. This is a pet peeve of mine when sports broadcasts will have a trivia question in which the answer is almost always one of the coaches on the sidelines.
Minute 12: For those of you that didn’t get the above, the answer is Sidney Lowe.
Minute 13: I have now seen the same Brandon Costner highlight three times. I guess after his putrid season, they only had one decent clip to show. Has anyone fallen off the face of the Earth faster than Brnadon Costner? He went from averaging over 16 a game and scoring more points in the ACC tourney than anyone in recent memory as a freshman to scoring more than seven points twice in his last 8 games last year. That’s the furthest fall from grace since the Alpha Beta’s had to go live in the gym after losing the control of the Greek Council and tearing down the Tri-Lambs house.
Minute 18: There is a two minute sequence in which Courtney Fells mentions that he grew up down the street from where Elvis lived which prompts a few “Thank you very much” comments. Fells is my new NC State man crush. That was freaking hilarious. (plus he mentions how much he loves playing in Reynolds Coliseum and that he wishes they played more games there. I loved watching games in that gym.)
Minute 20: The official name is the All ACC-Preview Team. I can’t believe it took me six viewings to clear up that nugget of info.
Minute 26: They show the same Costner highlight for the fourth time.
Minute 27: Gminski leaves us with this piece of information: “Point guard is one of the most important positions…” You can’t pay for amazing information like that. Well, actually, I guess Fox Sports Atlantic did.
Minute 2: Jenn Hildreth (It’s nice to have you back.) lets us know the tale of two seasons we saw out of NC State last year. Coming off a miraculous 2006 ACC tourney run in which they made the championship game as a 10 seed, NC State looked like they were going to roll right into the NCAA tournament.
They started 15-7 with a 4-4 conference record at the halfway point. Then, they completely went in the tank. The Wolfpack lost their last nine games of the season.
Hildreth tells us that the good news is there is nowhere to go but up. You can always count on Jenn Hildreth to put a silver lining on any dark cloud.
Minute 4: Ben McCauley, speaking about the loss of Hickson, lets us know that as long as they have him, Costner, Trevor Ferguson and Dennis Horner, then they will have a great inside-outside game. Ben, why don’t you just say you would be happy to play with me and some of the guys from my 2-9 rec league team a few years back. You’d probably get the same production. Horner and Ferguson combined to score barely seven points a game last year. Horner scored 4.6 ppg as a freshman and actually saw his production decline. Yikes!
Minute 6: NC State took a preseason trip to Toronto. I bet that was nice. Most teams go to Costa Rica, Panama or Europe for their preseason trips. This is right out of Wayne’s World. Hi… we’re… in… Toronto.
Minute 7: Well, Hardees’, it took you 6 shows, but you’ve finally done it. I’m going to order a Thickburger today.
Minute 11: The interview with head coach Sidney Lowe commences. Here is a trivia question for you: Who is the ACC career leader in assist to turnover ratio? You think you can guess. I’ll give you five but you only need one. This is a pet peeve of mine when sports broadcasts will have a trivia question in which the answer is almost always one of the coaches on the sidelines.
Minute 12: For those of you that didn’t get the above, the answer is Sidney Lowe.
Minute 13: I have now seen the same Brandon Costner highlight three times. I guess after his putrid season, they only had one decent clip to show. Has anyone fallen off the face of the Earth faster than Brnadon Costner? He went from averaging over 16 a game and scoring more points in the ACC tourney than anyone in recent memory as a freshman to scoring more than seven points twice in his last 8 games last year. That’s the furthest fall from grace since the Alpha Beta’s had to go live in the gym after losing the control of the Greek Council and tearing down the Tri-Lambs house.
Minute 18: There is a two minute sequence in which Courtney Fells mentions that he grew up down the street from where Elvis lived which prompts a few “Thank you very much” comments. Fells is my new NC State man crush. That was freaking hilarious. (plus he mentions how much he loves playing in Reynolds Coliseum and that he wishes they played more games there. I loved watching games in that gym.)
Minute 20: The official name is the All ACC-Preview Team. I can’t believe it took me six viewings to clear up that nugget of info.
Minute 26: They show the same Costner highlight for the fourth time.
Minute 27: Gminski leaves us with this piece of information: “Point guard is one of the most important positions…” You can’t pay for amazing information like that. Well, actually, I guess Fox Sports Atlantic did.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Florida State 2008 season preview show
I’m looking forward to another Fox Sports Florida production.
Minute 1: Surprise! Surprise! It’s Heather Catlin bringing us the Seminoles’ show, and it is a Fox Sports Atlantic production. She then throws it over to … Tom Block?? Okay, this is really weird.
Minute 3: The Florida State Seminoles upcoming season is described as featuring “several marquee matchups against tough opponents.” Then, the graphic of some of these tough contests is displayed. You know, just the usual suspects of tough opponents like Jacksonville … and Stetson.
There was another comment that caught my attention. FSU will host their games at the Tucker Center. Please bow your heads in a moment of silence for the passing of the best arena name in the ACC. It seems as though FSU’s home venue is no longer called the Leon County Civic Center. That's a shame, because that name always made me think of the actor who went by the single name of Leon. This always led to three random thoughts:
1. Leon felt he was important enough to have a singular name. Although upon looking at his IMDB page, Iforgot that he was the saint in the Like a Prayer video. So, maybe this is Madonna's influence.
2. The opening scene in Above the Rim. Leon is playing a pickup game with his little brother. Did I mention they are playing on top of a building? Did I mention the hoop is about three feet in front of a plate glass window? Did I mention that Leon bets his little brother that he cannot touch the backboard? Did I also mention that Leon’s little brother subsequently runs toward the hoop, jumps, and continues right through the plate glass window, falling to his death? While this gives Leon the checkered past he needs for us to sufficiently root for him in the movie; there is a lesson to be learned here kids: Don’t try to dunk on top of ten story buildings when the distance between the hoop and the edge of the building is shorter than Mugsy Bogues.
3. Leon was one of the bobsledders in Cool Runnings. Anytime I get to think of the movie Cool Runnings starring the late, great John Candy, well, I consider that to be a good day.
Minute 4: The ACC tournament is March 12 this year, only 113 days to the greatest tournament of any kind in any sport. Should a 32 year old man be this excited over 11 basketball games in four days?
Minute 7: Keith Jones is doing the interview, and now I just don’t know what to think. We have Heather Catlin, but no Jenn Hildreth or Ray Goodrich.
Minute 9: Leonard Hamilton cements himself as the most boring coach in the ACC. That sound you just heard for the last two minutes was me smacking my head with the remote
Minute 10:
Keith – “What’s the one thing you want?”
Leonard Hamilton– “I want two things: health and [for the team] to realize its fullest potential.”
Good thing Hamilton didn’t want little pesky things like winning, or making FSU’s first NCAA appearance since 1998. I think some dreams would have been dashed had he reached for those stars.
Minute 11: Well, the Hamilton interview is over, and there’s four minutes I’ll never get back.
Minute 15: There is a nice profile on Solomon Alabi and Uche Echefu. Both players hail from Nigeria originally, and the profile is a good one about how they have bonded so well. I like it, because I could hear the name Uche Echefu on a 3 hour loop and not get tired of it, especially the way my friend Rob yells the name, “Echefu!” in excitement when he scores in the ACC tourney (only 113 days away).
Minute 18: An interview with Toney Douglas commences, and that means two things: 1. It is apparent that they are not doing the All ACC preview team, and 2. It’s man crush time!
Man, I love the point guards. Toney Douglas is a no-brainer for my FSU man crush. I’m not even going to allow his complete lack of command of English grammar deter me from liking this guy.
Minute 19: For the second time during the show, we hear senior Brian Hoff’s comments about his fellow players. I’m not sure if it was his 108 total minutes played in three years or his 1+ point per game scoring average that got him the gig of team narrator. Maybe I should run a poll question or something.
Minute 28: Keith Jones and Tom Block wrap up the Seminoles’ 2008 outlook whichconcludes what has been the weirdest preview show yet. Below is a recap:
Minute 1: Surprise! Surprise! It’s Heather Catlin bringing us the Seminoles’ show, and it is a Fox Sports Atlantic production. She then throws it over to … Tom Block?? Okay, this is really weird.
Minute 3: The Florida State Seminoles upcoming season is described as featuring “several marquee matchups against tough opponents.” Then, the graphic of some of these tough contests is displayed. You know, just the usual suspects of tough opponents like Jacksonville … and Stetson.
There was another comment that caught my attention. FSU will host their games at the Tucker Center. Please bow your heads in a moment of silence for the passing of the best arena name in the ACC. It seems as though FSU’s home venue is no longer called the Leon County Civic Center. That's a shame, because that name always made me think of the actor who went by the single name of Leon. This always led to three random thoughts:
1. Leon felt he was important enough to have a singular name. Although upon looking at his IMDB page, Iforgot that he was the saint in the Like a Prayer video. So, maybe this is Madonna's influence.
2. The opening scene in Above the Rim. Leon is playing a pickup game with his little brother. Did I mention they are playing on top of a building? Did I mention the hoop is about three feet in front of a plate glass window? Did I mention that Leon bets his little brother that he cannot touch the backboard? Did I also mention that Leon’s little brother subsequently runs toward the hoop, jumps, and continues right through the plate glass window, falling to his death? While this gives Leon the checkered past he needs for us to sufficiently root for him in the movie; there is a lesson to be learned here kids: Don’t try to dunk on top of ten story buildings when the distance between the hoop and the edge of the building is shorter than Mugsy Bogues.
3. Leon was one of the bobsledders in Cool Runnings. Anytime I get to think of the movie Cool Runnings starring the late, great John Candy, well, I consider that to be a good day.
Minute 4: The ACC tournament is March 12 this year, only 113 days to the greatest tournament of any kind in any sport. Should a 32 year old man be this excited over 11 basketball games in four days?
Minute 7: Keith Jones is doing the interview, and now I just don’t know what to think. We have Heather Catlin, but no Jenn Hildreth or Ray Goodrich.
Minute 9: Leonard Hamilton cements himself as the most boring coach in the ACC. That sound you just heard for the last two minutes was me smacking my head with the remote
Minute 10:
Keith – “What’s the one thing you want?”
Leonard Hamilton– “I want two things: health and [for the team] to realize its fullest potential.”
Good thing Hamilton didn’t want little pesky things like winning, or making FSU’s first NCAA appearance since 1998. I think some dreams would have been dashed had he reached for those stars.
Minute 11: Well, the Hamilton interview is over, and there’s four minutes I’ll never get back.
Minute 15: There is a nice profile on Solomon Alabi and Uche Echefu. Both players hail from Nigeria originally, and the profile is a good one about how they have bonded so well. I like it, because I could hear the name Uche Echefu on a 3 hour loop and not get tired of it, especially the way my friend Rob yells the name, “Echefu!” in excitement when he scores in the ACC tourney (only 113 days away).
Minute 18: An interview with Toney Douglas commences, and that means two things: 1. It is apparent that they are not doing the All ACC preview team, and 2. It’s man crush time!
Man, I love the point guards. Toney Douglas is a no-brainer for my FSU man crush. I’m not even going to allow his complete lack of command of English grammar deter me from liking this guy.
Minute 19: For the second time during the show, we hear senior Brian Hoff’s comments about his fellow players. I’m not sure if it was his 108 total minutes played in three years or his 1+ point per game scoring average that got him the gig of team narrator. Maybe I should run a poll question or something.
Minute 28: Keith Jones and Tom Block wrap up the Seminoles’ 2008 outlook whichconcludes what has been the weirdest preview show yet. Below is a recap:
- It’s a Florida school in which the production was done by Fox Sports Atlantic.
- Heather Catlin is the only person that has made an appearance in any prior preview show.
- Even though it was a Fox Sports Atlantic production, they did not have the All-ACC preview team.
- Keith Jones finished his comments by calling Uche Echefu, “Uch” (pronounced oooch) This makes it official. Uche Echefu is the greatest college basketball name since Exree Hipp.
I love the ACC.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wake Forest 2008 preview show
Minute 1: Heather Catlin quickly switches it over to Jenn Hildreth for the review/preview brought to you by Hardee’s Thickburger. Did you know the Thickburger was charbroiled? There are other sponsors of this show, but none with the meaty, cheesy, caloric goodness of the Hardees’ Thickburger.
Minute 3: Speaking of sponsors, minute 3 is brought to you by the accounting firm of Battle and Battle. Oh, wait. That’s not an accountant. That’s Wake Forest’s associate head coach, Jeff Battle. By the way, has there ever been a weirder, more awkward title change than calling an assistant coach an associate head coach? We all know you’re an assistant. Is this the athletic department’s way of saving some money? I reckon the first one of these conversations went something like this:
Athletic Director – “Good morning, Mr. Assistant. You must have seen the news that we just gave our head coach a raise to two million a year. Well, we have some good news for you also.”
Assistant – “Really?! That’s great! It’s been tough supporting my family on the $40,000 salary I’ve been getting for the last three years with no raise. I’m glad you guys finally found some money in the budget. It sounds like the weeks at a time away from my family with no job security on a year to year basis will finally be worth it.”
A.D. – “Well, there’s not actually any more money. This is something better. You are getting promoted to associate head coach! See, we dropped the assistant label ,and we put head coach in your title. You can tell your friends that you’re basically a head coach!”
Assistant – “Okay, I was hoping for a raise, but this is great. I mean, ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH. It sounds so proper. So, I will have more responsibility, an actual office, and I can stop doing the team’s laundry.”
A.D. – “No.”
Minute 4: Wake returns all five starters and their top nine scorers including James Johnson who is the first Wake player since 1991 to lead the team in scoring and rebounding as a freshman. Can you guess the other? The answer will be in minute 21 during the All-ACC preview team.
Minute 6: We have an appearance by the Little Thickburger… for that little kid inside you that doesn’t want to wait until your fifty to have that first triple bypass surgery.
Minute 10: The interview with Dino Gaudio, that’s Wake’s actual head coach by the way, alludes to the difficulty of taking over after the death of Prosser. I’m about to say something very unpopular, because I imagine Skip Prosser was a nice guy. I think Skip Prosser left a lot to be desired for his team’s results in the postseason. He had Josh Howard when he was the best player in the ACC. He had Chris Paul for two years. Wake never made a tourney final, and they made the Sweet Sixteen once. Then, when he didn’t have the star player, they were terrible his last two years.
Minute 13: It’s man crush time. I skipped this segment on Duke’s show, because I refuse to have a man crush on any Duke player, although Sheyer would be the closest. So, I thought it would be Ismael Smith, however, he shoots about 30% on his free throws. I thought it would be James Johnson, and then I heard him speak later in the program. Then I thought of Gaudio, but it is too early in his tenure to commit to him. So, for now, there will be no individual man crush on Wake, although I do like them collectively, and I think they are going to be fantastic this year. This will be a team award until further notice.
Minute 17: The player profile for Wake is James Johnson. He is the antithesis of Dews and McClinton from Miami. McClinton was an academic All-American last year. I would be impressed if Johnson can find America on a map. Here is Johnson’s quote about teammate Jeff Teague, “Watch out for Jeff Teague ‘cause he creative…” I wish I were kidding.
Minute 21: So, did you figure out the last Wake freshman to lead the team in rebounding and scoring as a freshman? Let’s find out together. My first guess was Chris King. Then, I realized, I think he was more of an 80’s player. So, My guess is Rodney Rogers. Let’s see…
Minute 22: That is correct.
Minute 22: There is no Boston College preview show on the schedule. So, I’ll take this time, since I’ve watched the ACC preview team four times, to focus on local Richmond product Tyrese Rice. Allow a tangent before getting to my point. When the ACC expanded again a few years ago, I accepted Tech right away, because they are natural rivals with Virginia and should have been in the conference a long time ago. I see Miami as more of an SEC school, but they’ve performed well in the tourney and have formed a respectable basketball program. It took me about 14 years to accept FSU as a full ACC member, and the reason I came around on them was because of Tim Pickett. That guy could score in bunches. He was exciting to watch, and he was the first FSU player that was good that gave a crap about winning. I’m discounting the Cassell teams as he was recruited before FSU became an ACC team.
Boston College on the other hand simply shouldn’t be in the ACC. Yet, Tyrese Rice has a chance to be their Tim Pickett. He’s actually much better than Tim Pickett. He is the only reason to watch a BC game. I mean, did you see his game at Carolina last year? The guy is incredible, and I’m looking forward to watching him for one last year. Then, BC can fall right back off the ACC map.
Minute 25: Now that you have suffered through my rant, let’s learn something from “two guys that know a thing or two about college basketball,” Mike Gminski and Tom Werme.
Mike Gmisnki, of course, was a four year starter at Duke. He was an All-American, who averaged over 19 points and 10 rebounds a game. He played on two ACC championship teams, made an NCAA championship game and an Elite Eight. He was the ACC rookie of the year, a three time all ACC first team member, an ACC player of the year, and his jersey is retired at Duke, one of the most historic college basketball programs.
Tom Werme announced the Indiana-Western Kentucky football game back in August. Seriously, that’s about all I could find on the guy.
Enjoy them while they last. There are only two remaining preview shows. Next up, Florida State.
Minute 3: Speaking of sponsors, minute 3 is brought to you by the accounting firm of Battle and Battle. Oh, wait. That’s not an accountant. That’s Wake Forest’s associate head coach, Jeff Battle. By the way, has there ever been a weirder, more awkward title change than calling an assistant coach an associate head coach? We all know you’re an assistant. Is this the athletic department’s way of saving some money? I reckon the first one of these conversations went something like this:
Athletic Director – “Good morning, Mr. Assistant. You must have seen the news that we just gave our head coach a raise to two million a year. Well, we have some good news for you also.”
Assistant – “Really?! That’s great! It’s been tough supporting my family on the $40,000 salary I’ve been getting for the last three years with no raise. I’m glad you guys finally found some money in the budget. It sounds like the weeks at a time away from my family with no job security on a year to year basis will finally be worth it.”
A.D. – “Well, there’s not actually any more money. This is something better. You are getting promoted to associate head coach! See, we dropped the assistant label ,and we put head coach in your title. You can tell your friends that you’re basically a head coach!”
Assistant – “Okay, I was hoping for a raise, but this is great. I mean, ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH. It sounds so proper. So, I will have more responsibility, an actual office, and I can stop doing the team’s laundry.”
A.D. – “No.”
Minute 4: Wake returns all five starters and their top nine scorers including James Johnson who is the first Wake player since 1991 to lead the team in scoring and rebounding as a freshman. Can you guess the other? The answer will be in minute 21 during the All-ACC preview team.
Minute 6: We have an appearance by the Little Thickburger… for that little kid inside you that doesn’t want to wait until your fifty to have that first triple bypass surgery.
Minute 10: The interview with Dino Gaudio, that’s Wake’s actual head coach by the way, alludes to the difficulty of taking over after the death of Prosser. I’m about to say something very unpopular, because I imagine Skip Prosser was a nice guy. I think Skip Prosser left a lot to be desired for his team’s results in the postseason. He had Josh Howard when he was the best player in the ACC. He had Chris Paul for two years. Wake never made a tourney final, and they made the Sweet Sixteen once. Then, when he didn’t have the star player, they were terrible his last two years.
Minute 13: It’s man crush time. I skipped this segment on Duke’s show, because I refuse to have a man crush on any Duke player, although Sheyer would be the closest. So, I thought it would be Ismael Smith, however, he shoots about 30% on his free throws. I thought it would be James Johnson, and then I heard him speak later in the program. Then I thought of Gaudio, but it is too early in his tenure to commit to him. So, for now, there will be no individual man crush on Wake, although I do like them collectively, and I think they are going to be fantastic this year. This will be a team award until further notice.
Minute 17: The player profile for Wake is James Johnson. He is the antithesis of Dews and McClinton from Miami. McClinton was an academic All-American last year. I would be impressed if Johnson can find America on a map. Here is Johnson’s quote about teammate Jeff Teague, “Watch out for Jeff Teague ‘cause he creative…” I wish I were kidding.
Minute 21: So, did you figure out the last Wake freshman to lead the team in rebounding and scoring as a freshman? Let’s find out together. My first guess was Chris King. Then, I realized, I think he was more of an 80’s player. So, My guess is Rodney Rogers. Let’s see…
Minute 22: That is correct.
Minute 22: There is no Boston College preview show on the schedule. So, I’ll take this time, since I’ve watched the ACC preview team four times, to focus on local Richmond product Tyrese Rice. Allow a tangent before getting to my point. When the ACC expanded again a few years ago, I accepted Tech right away, because they are natural rivals with Virginia and should have been in the conference a long time ago. I see Miami as more of an SEC school, but they’ve performed well in the tourney and have formed a respectable basketball program. It took me about 14 years to accept FSU as a full ACC member, and the reason I came around on them was because of Tim Pickett. That guy could score in bunches. He was exciting to watch, and he was the first FSU player that was good that gave a crap about winning. I’m discounting the Cassell teams as he was recruited before FSU became an ACC team.
Boston College on the other hand simply shouldn’t be in the ACC. Yet, Tyrese Rice has a chance to be their Tim Pickett. He’s actually much better than Tim Pickett. He is the only reason to watch a BC game. I mean, did you see his game at Carolina last year? The guy is incredible, and I’m looking forward to watching him for one last year. Then, BC can fall right back off the ACC map.
Minute 25: Now that you have suffered through my rant, let’s learn something from “two guys that know a thing or two about college basketball,” Mike Gminski and Tom Werme.
Mike Gmisnki, of course, was a four year starter at Duke. He was an All-American, who averaged over 19 points and 10 rebounds a game. He played on two ACC championship teams, made an NCAA championship game and an Elite Eight. He was the ACC rookie of the year, a three time all ACC first team member, an ACC player of the year, and his jersey is retired at Duke, one of the most historic college basketball programs.
Tom Werme announced the Indiana-Western Kentucky football game back in August. Seriously, that’s about all I could find on the guy.
Enjoy them while they last. There are only two remaining preview shows. Next up, Florida State.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Duke 2008 season preview show
I’ll start this post with full disclosure. I am incredibly biased against Duke basketball. It is part jealousy, part arrogance, part misplaced hype, and part Coach K’s nasally voice. With that said, I do respect the program. I know they are a really good team every year, sometimes even great. It still doesn’t change the fact that they are the only ACC team that I don’t root for in non-conference games. I wanted to make sure you knew all the facts before reading this post.
Minute 1: Heather Catlin is back in our lives, and once again, order is restored. Heather does not waste any time causing my frustration level to rise higher than the Eiffel Tower (the King’s Dominion one though, not the real Eiffel Tower in France. I’ll save that frustration level for later.)
Here is the quote: “[Duke] proved once again that the road to the ACC Championship runs through Durham.” HMMMMM….. See, I thought that finishing second and seventh in conference the last two years and not making a conference championship game (or even getting out of the opening round two years ago), indicated that the ACC championship, in fact, DOES NOT, run through Durham. See, Duke makes me so mad; I can’t type grammatically correct sentences.
Minute 2: Duke started the conference season 10-0 last year, and won seven of their first eight by double digits. I guess nobody told Belmont or West Virginia.
Minute 3: Excuse me, please. I have to vomit. Lots of Kyle Singler love. Here’s the thing. In reality, I know Kyle Singler is a good basketball player. He got a scholarship to play at Duke, and he can do things on the court, I could not ever come close to doing. He scored double digits as a freshman and led his team in rebounds. I get it. The problem I have is the four terrible games he played in the postseason last year.
So he hit a freshman wall you say? Fine, I’ll give you that. The man lives off open three’s and open shots created by Duke’s superior ball movement (of which he certainly contributes). Now, if Singler played on UVA, I’d be thrilled to have him, and I’d be talking about how great he is. However, I’d be the only one and that is the point. Singler’s a fine player, who finished 27th in the conference in offensive efficiency. If he played for UVA or FSU or Boston College, he would not be getting nearly so much attention.
Minute 5: Paulus returns as a four year starter, which would be great, except he’s not. This is the Duke hype machine at work. Paulus has been so touted the last three years. He’s the active ACC leader in career assists, yet he’s not even starting on his own team! Paulus has value, and he can hit an open three. He also can be a train wreck of a point guard who cannot blow by anyone off the dribble.
Minute 6: Thickburger is back as a sponsor. Thank goodness. For a moment, I thought I was going to have to start eating healthy.
Minute 10: Interview with coach K. Here’s the recap: Olympics, blah blah blah, Duke is great, blah blah blah, I’m amazing, blah blah blah, I just made another 5 millions in endorsement deals, blah blah blah (I may have slipped in that last one.)
Minute 17: Fox Sports is finally paying attention to people other than Singler and Paulus. This begins a profile on Gerald Henderson who along with Jon Sheyer and Nolan Smith comprises the core of Duke players that when mentioned do not make me want to jam pencils in my ears.
Minute 18: It is mentioned that Henderson is one of the most explosive players on the Duke team. Are there other explosive players on the Duke team? I wasn’t aware of this. Could any other player on that Duke team have made that last drive against Belmont? (Nelson doesn’t count, because he would have committed a turnover.) When I picture Duke basketball, I picture many things: selflessness, precision passing, three point shooters that scare me to death when there is a hint of an opening, disappointing NBA careers, Reggie Love passed out. Sorry, I got off on a tangent there. To recap, I picture many things, but explosive players are not one of them. How is there even a debate about Henderson being the most explosive player on Duke’s roster?
Minutes 20-25: You know what is in this section. It is the All ACC preview team which still includes Kyle Singler as the sixth man. Here’s what bothers me about this. Have you ever seen an All-anything preview team that included a sixth man? You see a first team, maybe even a second or third team, but I have never seen an All-conference preview team with a first team, and then a “Here, let’s throw in one more guy.” I am convinced that the people who determined this team looked around the room, realized there were no Duke players on the preview team, and whipped up this sixth man idea to prevent Duke from throwing a hissy fit.
Minute 27: G-man and Tom Werme note that Paulus had his minutes cut last year which made him better as he cut his turnovers. You mean, Paulus had turnover issues when given the primary ball handling responsibilities for the entire game? Shocking! Paulus and Sheyer are touted as the primary ball handlers this year. I’m sorry, does Nolan Smith not exist. Is he not the starting point guard for Duke? I better get out of here before my frustration levels hit the heights of the real Eiffel Tower.
Minute 1: Heather Catlin is back in our lives, and once again, order is restored. Heather does not waste any time causing my frustration level to rise higher than the Eiffel Tower (the King’s Dominion one though, not the real Eiffel Tower in France. I’ll save that frustration level for later.)
Here is the quote: “[Duke] proved once again that the road to the ACC Championship runs through Durham.” HMMMMM….. See, I thought that finishing second and seventh in conference the last two years and not making a conference championship game (or even getting out of the opening round two years ago), indicated that the ACC championship, in fact, DOES NOT, run through Durham. See, Duke makes me so mad; I can’t type grammatically correct sentences.
Minute 2: Duke started the conference season 10-0 last year, and won seven of their first eight by double digits. I guess nobody told Belmont or West Virginia.
Minute 3: Excuse me, please. I have to vomit. Lots of Kyle Singler love. Here’s the thing. In reality, I know Kyle Singler is a good basketball player. He got a scholarship to play at Duke, and he can do things on the court, I could not ever come close to doing. He scored double digits as a freshman and led his team in rebounds. I get it. The problem I have is the four terrible games he played in the postseason last year.
So he hit a freshman wall you say? Fine, I’ll give you that. The man lives off open three’s and open shots created by Duke’s superior ball movement (of which he certainly contributes). Now, if Singler played on UVA, I’d be thrilled to have him, and I’d be talking about how great he is. However, I’d be the only one and that is the point. Singler’s a fine player, who finished 27th in the conference in offensive efficiency. If he played for UVA or FSU or Boston College, he would not be getting nearly so much attention.
Minute 5: Paulus returns as a four year starter, which would be great, except he’s not. This is the Duke hype machine at work. Paulus has been so touted the last three years. He’s the active ACC leader in career assists, yet he’s not even starting on his own team! Paulus has value, and he can hit an open three. He also can be a train wreck of a point guard who cannot blow by anyone off the dribble.
Minute 6: Thickburger is back as a sponsor. Thank goodness. For a moment, I thought I was going to have to start eating healthy.
Minute 10: Interview with coach K. Here’s the recap: Olympics, blah blah blah, Duke is great, blah blah blah, I’m amazing, blah blah blah, I just made another 5 millions in endorsement deals, blah blah blah (I may have slipped in that last one.)
Minute 17: Fox Sports is finally paying attention to people other than Singler and Paulus. This begins a profile on Gerald Henderson who along with Jon Sheyer and Nolan Smith comprises the core of Duke players that when mentioned do not make me want to jam pencils in my ears.
Minute 18: It is mentioned that Henderson is one of the most explosive players on the Duke team. Are there other explosive players on the Duke team? I wasn’t aware of this. Could any other player on that Duke team have made that last drive against Belmont? (Nelson doesn’t count, because he would have committed a turnover.) When I picture Duke basketball, I picture many things: selflessness, precision passing, three point shooters that scare me to death when there is a hint of an opening, disappointing NBA careers, Reggie Love passed out. Sorry, I got off on a tangent there. To recap, I picture many things, but explosive players are not one of them. How is there even a debate about Henderson being the most explosive player on Duke’s roster?
Minutes 20-25: You know what is in this section. It is the All ACC preview team which still includes Kyle Singler as the sixth man. Here’s what bothers me about this. Have you ever seen an All-anything preview team that included a sixth man? You see a first team, maybe even a second or third team, but I have never seen an All-conference preview team with a first team, and then a “Here, let’s throw in one more guy.” I am convinced that the people who determined this team looked around the room, realized there were no Duke players on the preview team, and whipped up this sixth man idea to prevent Duke from throwing a hissy fit.
Minute 27: G-man and Tom Werme note that Paulus had his minutes cut last year which made him better as he cut his turnovers. You mean, Paulus had turnover issues when given the primary ball handling responsibilities for the entire game? Shocking! Paulus and Sheyer are touted as the primary ball handlers this year. I’m sorry, does Nolan Smith not exist. Is he not the starting point guard for Duke? I better get out of here before my frustration levels hit the heights of the real Eiffel Tower.
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