Tuesday, November 30, 2010

How do you do it?




Some people will ask us "How do you watch up to four games at the same time?"

Silly citizens. This way of course. Plus the two TVs in the living room and bedroom. And each of us have this setup. And a few of us will be at one person's house at a time. All blogging. And yes, those are hot wings. Breakfast (lunch and dinner) of champions.

Viva la basketball!



Monday, November 29, 2010

Wow...



Act like you've fucking been there, Nevada.

(HT: Mr. Brian Cook with SB Nation and MGoBlog)



Too proud to foul?



I think I'm going to be sick

Hey Badgers?

Always
Be
Closing

You had the game well in hand, then allowed the Irish to outscore you by 18 points. You don't start to foul Notre Dame until the final 30 seconds when the game was well out of reach. The announcers during the game and fans afterward were openly questioning your strategy.

Wisconsin... You win the ABC award of the week. Geez.



Sunday, November 28, 2010

Church ballin'

This is an interesting story: Jimmer Fredette's older brother TJ was teaching Jimmer how to ball while working on his rap career.

Just go back a dozen years when TJ had Jimmer dribbling in the dark, or with a work glove on his hand, or through a darkened gauntlet in the church hallway filled with friends popping out of doorways to test Jimmer’s concentration.

Interesting techniques but hey, whatever works.



Public Enemy No. 1

The conversation started like this -

Steven: "So what do you think about Larry Drew?"
Gabby: "The UNC guard? I dunno, hasn't been a good start to his season so far."
Steven: "People really hate him."
Gabby: "People hate that whole team right now. North Carolina fans are PETRIFIED of a repeat of last year."
Steven: "No. People are starting to blame him for the Tar Heels bad start."

So we looked. And boy howdy it was not a joke. He has a fan page on Fabebook. Dedicated to showing how horrible of a player he is. There is a petition for a Bench Larry Drew website. He is constantly being ridiculed in the press. In fact the most complementary thing we saw was "between the lines" questioning of whether or not he deserves a scholarship.



Go down and say no more!

The team comparison stats don't look so hot either. So the question is why does coach Roy Williams still play him?



Saturday, November 27, 2010

Haters

"What the fuck do you think a hater's job is? To fucking hate so let them motherfuckers do their damn job!"
- Katt Williams




In case you didn't hear it, the heckler he was saying "YES WAY" in response to Bruce Pearl saying "no way" to the foul that was called on one of Tennessee's players. So there, Bruce.



Friday, November 26, 2010

Celebration

In honor of SDSU being ranked for the first time in both the AP (#18) and coaches poll (#22), here are the Top 25 Cheerleaders in the AP poll!



In order from left to right (as of 11/22) - Duke, Michigan State, Ohio State, Kansas State, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Villanova, Kentucky, Syracuse, Purdue, Missouri, Baylor, Washington, Memphis, Minnesota, Florida, Georgetown, San Diego State, Illinois, Texas, Temple, Gonzaga, BYU, Tennessee, North Carolina

Which one do YOU like?

(HT: Bleacher Report)

UPDATE: Sad Temple. That cheerleader above seemed worried about the Cal game too.



Thursday, November 25, 2010

A new start?

Basketball season officially starts the 2nd Friday in November according to the NCAA. Well we don't blame you if you didn't know since schools start playing between the 1st and 15 of November (take THAT, NCAA). There is not a single defining point of time when you know college basketball has started, outside of March of course and if you are one of those people you are probably not reading this.

To take it a step further college basketball is the only sport that doesn't have an opening day. And the powers that be are looking to change that next year.


"We were watching games, and we really thought if we had an event of some nature that brought attention and awareness right off the bat to the first games right away. We're blessed right now with the (ESPN) 24 hours of hoops marathon just concluding. In the first week, it didn't seem to have the energy and excitement that we felt the start of the season should have."
- Division I men's basketball committee chair Gene Smith.



Hey, what a novel idea Gene...

If this does indeed take shape next season it would be a good start. After that it would be nice for them to start looking at that stupid one-and-done rule. Or maybe we are just asking for too much.



Hawaiian Punch

#2 Michigan State?  Gone.
#8 Kentucky?  Gone.

The one thing we learned from the Maui Tournament is that we are in awe of Connecticut's Kemba Walker.  And UConn, you should be receiving that top 25 ranking by Monday.  Minor oversight there.



Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Say what?!

We already said our peace about Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl. So we will submit this without comment.




(HT: Rush The Court)

UPDATE: No. We think we came up with an appropriate enough response to that...



Your (First and Last) Wednesday Moment of Zen

Editor's note: For the past three or four years we have been doing these Wednesday cheesecake photos just for shits and giggles. We admit it was gimmicky and mainly used to attract readers. But now we have lost the interest in doing them. So below will be the first of the season and the last of the series. If you start to have withdraw symptoms later there is always Google. Enjoy.

March to Madness presents... Come and knock on our doors.



Here's to the start of college basketball season! NSFW, y'all.



The six game itch




Josh Selby, the former national five star recruit that Kansas so desperately sucked dick to sign has been banned from playing in 6 games for the Jayhawks because he accepted illegal benefits (Editor's note: Wow, it seems the NCAA has been busy lately).

That will put him in the game in time for the Southern Cal warm-up before heading off to Big 12 action in January. Coach Self was obviously excited about getting the point guard back. But there are a few folks out there who could care less about Selby:

"In the case of Selby being a Jayhawk, I’ll be honest... I’m not sure it even matters. Selby isn’t good enough to make much difference."

Perhaps, but that was harsh. Guess we will see next year. Kansas has pretty high standards obviously, but we're not willing to totally write him off yet. We think Selby will start to make some noise come late February.



Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Boom goes the dynamite...



...and down goes Sparty

We know it's too early in the season to make a big deal of UConn beating Michigan State 70 to 67. But really? Izzo? You couldn't game plan to account for Husky guard Kemba Walker, the man everyone has been screaming about? You just allow him to explode again? Ok, we're done.



Phew!

So... We made it out alive. Four road games. Four wins. All in one week. Capped off by fans screaming at their team to "Get the ball inside once!"




Welcome home, gents.



Monday, November 22, 2010

We wish turkey only cost a nickle



This is the "G" version of this picture. Click above for the "PG-13" prep version.

Our viewing schedule:

Monday, November 22nd
Wichita St. at Connecticut - 3 pm (game of interest)
Oklahoma at Kentucky - 5:30 pm
San Diego St. at Miami (Ohio) - 7 pm (game of interest)
Marquette at Duke - 7:30 pm
Gonzaga at Kansas St. - 9:30 pm (game of interest)

Tuesday, November 23rd
Virginia at Washington - 12 am (yes, we will be up. Steve's bringing the Red Bull)
Butler at Siena - 7 pm

Wednesday, November 24th
VCU at Tennessee - 7 pm
UCLA at Villanova - 9 pm

So what about Thursday through Sunday? Who knows. Depends on how these tournaments are going but we will pay special attention to the Cancun Challenge. Why? Because it's Cancun, bitch.



Post post game analysis - SDSU/Gonzaga

We are still in a little bit of an afterglow after the Gonzaga win, especially after surviving the CBE Classic so far with Green Bay and IUPUI. We were perusing a most excellent Zags blog The Slipper Still Fits for what they were saying about the game. It looks like we are on the same page in a number of areas:

First of all, if you are looking for a "Oh my God, the sky is falling" recap, I suggest looking elsewhere. Gonzaga has now lost five games in the MAC since 2004. This is the first time I have thought the opposing team was the better team. Not saying that the 2010-11 Aztecs are better than the 2010-11 Zags, but as of November 16th, they are the better team.

We feel Gonzaga is the better team on pure talent alone. We had to play nearly perfect roundball to escape the MAC with a win (and we emphasize escape).

Tonight, San Diego State had no designs on launching up bombs from deep.

Ha! We CAN'T launch deep bombs. Every time one of our Aztec boys shoots a three we literally cover our eyes. What are we, like 28% from the 3 point line?! (Editor's note: Actually 31% but who keeps track of stuff like that.)

Gonzaga's mistakes were similarly simple. It boils down to rebounding. With a team that starts a pair of seven-footers and brings a 6'10'' guy off the bench, you are going to have a hard time ever convincing me that Gonzaga should lose the battle on the boards.

This is one area in which we will quibble a bit. SDSU has been living off their rebounding (reference the Green Bay game for an example). We feel we are one of the top teams in the country when it comes to that and other teams find that very difficult to match up with.

Tonight is Miami of Ohio for some consolation prize of the tourney. If we come out flat like we did against the past two teams it will be a long night for San Diego State. Go Aztecs.



Sense and Sensibility in the NCAA



What does Ted Forstmann, Vegas and Rachel Newman-Baker have in common?

So let's get this straight. President of powerful talent agency company makes deal to represent college basketball coaches? Check. Also makes deal for licensing and marketing of college basketball? Check. Then turns around and starts betting on college basketball games to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars? Check. So the NCAA Director of Agent, Gambling and Amateurism tells the public she intends to do nothing? Check.

But she then turns around and bans a poor kid from Turkey from playing for Kentucky because he made a couple of bones playing for his national team? Oh, we got that checked.

Oi vey, NCAA.



Sunday, November 21, 2010

Master and Commodore

North Carolina... Again?

That #8 ranking is looking very overrated right now. I know we keep saying "we told you so" but this is starting to get a little silly. Vanderbilt never looked too uncomfortable or challenged playing the Tar Heels. In fact, UNC only had the lead twice all game. It was like one big highlight reel for Vandy.

In case you missed it, see the clip below and just extend that to 40 minutes to get a feel of how the Commodores did.





By the power of Nevada



Will the Mountain West Conference have the power this season?

Simply a great game between Wisconsin and UNLV last night. The Running Rebels showed guts and determination against (in our opinion) a slightly better Badgers team. UNLV guard Chace "the poet" Stanback came through in the clutch with assassin-style three point shooting. The best part was that UNLV caused turnovers when Wisconsin was trying to make game winning shots in the final minute of the game. The result was UNLV beating the 25th ranked Badgers at the Thomas & Mack Arena. This is fantastic for two reasons:

1) Wisconsin is ranked #25 in the coaches poll. Their loss makes more room for SDSU next week.
2) The Mountain West Conference has now knocked off 2 top 25 teams. Excellent RPI builder.

Btw, did you notice the Wisconsin players were reliving the 70s and 80s?

<--- Mike Bruesewitz as Afro Man

<--- Ryan Evans as Play from Kid 'n Play.



Saturday, November 20, 2010

Tubby's Way


Introducing Harrison Barnes:


0 for 12... against Minnesota?

So much for North Carolina's wonder boy for now. And yes, we said as much earlier.



Let's play "What is Bob Knight Thinking?"




I wonder if those kids are on my lawn...

Why am I out of bed?

Washington better keep their damned government hands off my Medicare.

How about that Sarah Palin, eh?

Dan's head reminds me of a soft boiled egg. Liver and onions sounds good right now.

Did I take my pills today?


(as seen during the Pitt/Maryland ruckus)



Friday, November 19, 2010

Pat to be without Bruce for awhile

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive has suspended Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl for the Volunteers' first eight conference games as punishment for violating NCAA rules and misleading investigators.


In essence this is a slap on the wrist for willfully lying to NCAA investigators.  We feel former Indiana coach Sampson did LESS and was fired and practically banned from coaching.  Are you kidding us?  Yes, Sampson was scum and Pearl is a likable guy and winning coach.  But should that matter?



Introducing - Waving Cleavage Girl

Seen during the Green Bay/Marquette throwdown:




Wonder if she will be at the Green Bay/SDSU game on Saturday...



Thursday, November 18, 2010

But the season just started

Michigan State just gave coach Tom Izzo a $500,000 raise. In case you're keeping track of stuff like that he now makes $3.49 million a year.

But wait, there's more!

Instead of offering him the perk of use of a car from the university pool this publicly funded institution decided to give Izzo use of a private plane. For personal use.

And he's not giving a dime back:




So shut up.



Preseason meltdown?

Siena?

We thought you were going to be a pretty good team based on last year's performance. But with back to back loses against Vermont and Minnesota? Yeah, you got rid of coach McCaffery and his crazy ejection-prone wife but c'mon!

Well, at least you are still in first place according to ESPN...



Go Saints. Or Dogs. Or whatever.



Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Post game analysis - SDSU/Gonzaga





Can't close games.
Horrible three point shooting.
Can't win the games they should.
No signature wins. Ever.
Dependent on other teams doing badly.
2nd tier recruits.

All those demons were exercised last night. At 1:30 am we discovered we had a good basketball team. A really good basketball team. At HOME Gonzaga only led once during the game. SDSU made the three point shots they had to make in the second half. And they closed the game by playing nearly error free basketball, outside of that charge call with 38 seconds left. DJ Gay and Kawhi Leonard can flat out ball. And the Aztecs leave Spokane with their first signature win.

Where are you now, Coaches Poll?



Tuesday, November 16, 2010

M2M Almost Liveblog: ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off

Usually we do liveblogs but for various reasons it didn't pan out. So we are going to do a running commentary of the various games. Keep refreshing this page for the latest moronic things we say.

7:48 pm - Overheard during the Ohio State/Florida game: "Florida has proven they are not ready for elite competition." We think about the SDSU/Gonzaga game later tonight and collectively start to bite our nails.

8:50 pm - When Louisville guard Preston Knowles made a long range 3 late in the first half against Butler Gabby shouted "Woooooo! Fresh Food Fast!"

9:00 pm - There's a fucking Evan Williams Bourbon bar at the University of Louisville's basketball center!?




9:25 pm - Exacto...



9:55 pm - There seems to be long stretches of time where Dick Vitale and Dan Shulman aren't even paying attention to the Butler/Louisville game.

10:32 pm - Louisville fittingly plays "Happy Trails" to Butler and we are T minus 27 minutes until the game of the century decade year week night.

11:01 pm - Oh no they didn't! We are forced to watch the beginning of the SDSU/Gonzaga game on ESPN 3 because of some danged football game still going on ESPN 2. Why won't you just DIE, Temple?

11:24 pm - We are starting in familiar territory. Aztecs are missing open looks...

11:29 pm - Gonzaga fan screams at ref "What the hell are you lookin' at?!?!" Nice.

11:49 pm - Oh no they didn't 2! They cut away from SDSU/Gonzaga to show the closing seconds of Tennessee/Belmont? Why? Just because the Volunteers are up by only 3?

12:06 am - Halftime. Every time San Diego State attempts a three point shot we CRINGE!

1:13 am - Why do we have that sinking feeling right now... We have been here before. SDSU 77 - Gonzaga 74 with 38 seconds left.

1:22 am - San Diego State University 79 - Gonzaga 76