What type of crap first half was that? SDSU had 10 turnovers, 29% from the free throw line. Sigh, same old Aztecs. We were at it again over here, screaming "NOOOOOOOO!" whenever SDSU took a three point shot. Why? How about being 23% from the three point line. And the traveling. We must have set some sort of record for most traveling calls in a game. This is why we keep on saying that SDSU could not win against a top team (any team in the top 15 really). They say our strength is that we come out in the second half and pour it on...
...why can't we come out in the FIRST HALF and do that. There will be a team who will pound us so much that we won't have the time to come back. Grrrrrrr...
Have we said how much we love the NCAA in their infinite wisdom?
No?
Well then.
We don't really. They treat these kids like indentured servants, come up with the most asinine rules (our fav was when they penalized a school because one of their basketball players went back home to whatever foreign country they were from to compete in the Olympics on that player's national team. Why would the NCAA penalize the school for that? Because the player got a small stipend from the country's government.), we can go on and on. Looks like this idea of expanding the NCAA Tournament from 65 teams to 96 teams with the first 32 teams getting a bye is going to come true. Never in our wildest nightmares could we imagine the NCAA fucking something up so badly.
There can only be ONE reason for this. Hit it, Diddy.
Yup. Fuckers.
Friday, February 5, 2010
We still would not support the expansion of the NCAA Tournament to 96 teams even though that would allow San Diego State to get into the Big Dance because they are always the perennial bubble out team in the current 64 format.
Hey coach Cronin, your Cincinnati Bearcats actually wonagainst 10th ranked UConn. It was an albeit sloppy game but there were several times you looked like you were gonna break your players necks.
Like our man crush Keith Olbermann would say, and now a special comment...
We want to officially go on record in saying that the NBA should adopt the NFL rule of players being 3 years removed from high school before being able to enter the pros. We have felt this for years as players such as Kobe Bryant went pro while we were left thinking "Could you imagine him at Duke?"
Then the NBA came up with this one year removed rule. This just pissed us off more. If you want to go pro, then GO! Don't waste our time and make a mockery of the collegiate system by enrolling, signing up for classes only to drop out when the semester is over. The term is Student-Athlete, not Possible-Millionaire-In-Waiting.
We were reading the Bible and John Gasaway made the following comment about Kentucky's super frosh John Wall:
I’m on the record as thinking one-and-done has got to go and, post-Wall, I still believe that. Wall should be in the NBA right now. (Duh.) To keep him out is unfair. But to love hoops as I do is to love what you’ve been seeing, however it came to be. Again, enjoy Wall while you can.
Yes, Wall is good but imagine if he remains at Kentucky longer? And when Kentucky loses (and they will) would that say Wall is NOT ready for the NBA? Should Michael Jordan have jumped ship and not played at UNC (or worse only play one year)? Was he THAT much better than the college competition?
So we ended up watching the SDSU/St. Mary's fiasco game. The part of this horsewhipping that made us laugh (in that frustrated sort of cackle that happens when you are shocked and angry) was this graphic:
We were beaten by 22 points by an unranked team. And we told you so. Hope the rest of you enjoyed ESPN's 24 hours of basketball. The season has officially started.
But do those animal teens need to come to our universities and do the same thing?
Part of Duquesne University was put on lockdown Thursday night after shots were fired at a campus parking garage, police said.
Police said a pair of 15-year-old boys approached three people from behind on the third floor of the Forbes Avenue garage around 7:30 p.m.
Officers responded quickly, as they happened to be working just one block away at the City League high school basketball championship game between Allderdice and Perry at the A.J. Palumbo Center.
There are some that feel sad about the current state of the youth in this country. They take "THE G**DAMN PLANE HAS CRASHED INTO THE MOUNTAIN!" attitude about the crisis. Not us. Gets us pretty angry. Last thing we want is to be taken out by someone who doesn't even have self-consenting rights yet. Hey NCAA, ban high school games from college campuses!
Had a conversation with an Aztec fan here at work. He kept on talking about 20 wins and how we look to be poised to get 20 wins and if we get 20 wins we'll get into the NCAA Tournament blah blah blah...
First, we don't necessarily subscribe to the 20 wins philosophy. There has been many teams left out with 20 or more wins. Second, who cares when you can't play consistent good ball? There is a part of us that almost doesn't want SDSU to be in March Madness just because they'll get beat up. Look, here is San Diego State in a nutshell: Can't win games against talented teams outside our conference (Arizona, Arizona State, St. Mary's), we lose the games we have no business losing (Wyoming). We can totally beat up on top talent within our conference (BYU, Utah, UNLV) but that is not good enough, damnit.
As long as those issues remain, we will forever be NIT bound.
Well, kind of. Starting the middle of November we will also be writing daily college b-ball missives for Sports Illustrated, along side the likes of Luke Winn and Seth Davis. More to come. By the way, we're also available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.
According to court records, Conway showed a handgun and demanded the male victim provide his ATM card and pin. In doing so, Conway put the man in a headlock and dragged him toward the ATM.
Once the male victim said he couldn’t locate his card, Conway fired a shot into the air.
(Conway) was charged with armed robbery Wednesday and was being held on $100,000 bond...
Also, something or other (read: misdemeanor petty larceny) happened with some players at some WAC school (read: Nevada Wolf Pack). Some coach has no comment and needs more information but will indefinitely suspend the players anyways.
London Giles, a guard from Dallas, Texas, and Ahyaro Phillips, a forward from New Orleans, were suspended along with the junior Fields after their release by Sparks police following an incident on Wednesday.
Nevada coach Mark Fox says he is "extremely disappointed" to learn of the citations. He says he doesn't have all the facts so doesn't have anything else to say at this time.
So there.
Finally, on a personal note we went to Las Vegas over the weekend and had lunch at Dick's Last Resort. It was the first time we had been but we knew the drill. The staff is suppose to be rude to you and crack wise. Sounds like fun! Look man, we work hard for our money. If we wanted to get that kind of treatment we could just have dinner with the wives at home. We go out to restaurants to have good food and good service. But we said what the hell and tried to rationalize it by thinking that the food HAD to be good because no one would subject themselves to bad food AND bad service. Right?
The worse crap we've had in recent memory. Horrible. Couldn't even finish it and we were drunk AND hungry! Best was that after we gave up on trying to consume this "meal" we got the check which instructed us to "Suck It".
Nice. We felt used and stupid. Hope that place goes bankrupt.
A friend of ours who shall remain nameless (because he has used their services) showed us the newest luxury hotel.
Amenities include -
Five star luxury.
Suites separated into zones to minimize stress and noise including day and night light dimming features.
Complete air changes occur in each zone every four minutes, roughly five times more often than the flow in the average home.
Daily serving of two premium meals and a snack, and daily housekeeping.
Central high-pressure, hydro-cleaning system with added sanitizers in the water.
Grooming and bathing salons.
Reception area with retail boutique.
Sounds nice, right? Somewhere you would like to stay? Well you can't. They will toss you on your arse if you tried to make reservations for yourself and the little woman. Why? Is it only for White people? Only for Jews? Only for well heeled Black people? Nope. It is for animals. That's right, citizens.
(Ed. Note: We will be doing a 10 part series, one a day on the 10 "most embarrassing" moments in college basketball. Now "most embarrassing" is subjective and we will admit it is only what's embarrassing to us. Also the time frame for this is since Dr. Naismith, whippersnappers.)
In what has to be the most chilling moment in college basketball, this sad sordid tale deals with a star player's disappearance and subsequent death and a coach's attempt to cover the whole damn thing up by lying. And this was not just some run of the mill lie, no sir. Bliss created the mother of all lies by saying that Patrick Dennehy was killed because he was dealing drugs.
Excuse me, I think I'm gonna throw up...
Bliss has been banned from coaching until 2015, but to us that will be too fucking soon.
We didn't have Duke in as a National Champ. But we had Duke going far. They seemed to be on fire throughout the season. But they also seemed to have a late collapse. Then going in the tournament they almost get beat by Belmont, and now fall to West Fuckin Virginia.
Florida is the defending National Champ and are back to back NCAA Tournament winners.
This year they failed to even get IN to the tournament.
And Billy Donovan is beyond angry. Conniption fit would more accurately describe it.
Coach Billy Donovan, feeling like his players had settled into a state of complacency and entitlement, banned them from Florida's $12 million facility. He also told them they couldn't wear any Florida attire.
The Gators... found themselves fighting to get back into... the team locker room, the practice court, the video room, the weight room...
Donovan was also contemplating releasing a pack of rabid dogs to disembowel his players heartless carcases, but decided against it for insurance reasons.
This time sickness has grabbed a hold of me and has prevented me from giving a decent post. You don't want to know the details.
But in the meantime... I don't report much (if at all) on Women's college hoops, but this was too good to pass up. (HT: Sunday Morning QB)
Michigan was leading the game by 18 points, but Wisconsin came back and end up beating them. That would be eligibility for the Always Be Closing award, however since I don't follow what the women do, I can't really give that prestigious award out.
Below is Michigan's coach after the game. Saying he was angry is like saying the Sun is kind of hot.
San Diego State men's basketball coach Steve Fisher announced Monday that junior forward Kyle Spain has been suspended for the rest of the season.
Spain, the team's second-leading scorer, was suspended indefinitely on Friday for unspecified violations of team policy.
Unspecified means smoking pot. I have no confirmation of this but all my sources in San Diego are saying so. And I tend to believe my sources more often than not.
Geez... Just... Geez...
On another note, a great article that I read on SI that kinda backs up my belief that Indiana's Sampson will not be fired this season.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Getting rid of coach Kelvin Sampson might not be the solution to Indiana's problems. It's a move that might just create a bigger mess.
There's no guarantee the NCAA would reduce Indiana's potential penalties if Sampson was fired, and the university, which has spent the past decade paying millions of dollars to fired coaches and athletic directors, could wind up in another costly split-up.
According to the contract signed in April 2006, Indiana pays Sampson an annual base salary of $500,000. With five years left on the deal, the cost could reach at least $2.5 million.
Yikes. No good ending to this horrible marriage in the near future.
But first... Do you think Kansas State is in hell anymore?
Anyways, I've been the first one to say that the Blue Devils do great in conference but they always choke during March Madness.
I've said this so much I have even went to Vegas to prove it out.
But this season seems different. I did a little number crunching and Duke has been beating up on opponents by an average of 22 points. To me that is saying something. This is not the Duke or last year or the year before then. Something is more sinister, more angry about them.
Maybe they have been reading my posts constantly bashing them.
Krzyzewski scoffed at the notion that his program ever flies under the radar, ("Otherwise, these people wouldn't be out there or in our place trying to beat us," he said)...
I'm starting to think Duke is gonna bust some heads open come tournament time.
You follow college basketball and you write about it. And you are making predictions about who is getting into March Madness. And you are looking at the Mountain West.
"Hey, San Diego State is #1 in the conference right now. All the teams basically suck, so the conference will be a single bid deal. Ok, SDSU will get in. Next conference!"
But wait! They lost to Cal, St. Mary's, Arizona and Northern Colorado at HOME. They haven't started their road trips to places like BYU and UNLV yet, teams that have traditionally rock the bells on the Aztecs. And trap games with TCU and New Mexico await.
If I had to pick the MWC right now it would look like this...
Auto bid: BYU (deeper and WAAAAAAAAY more talented than any other MWC team right now) Bubble: UNLV and New Mexico (The Running Rebels for their strong conference tournament play and UNM for a somewhat strong schedule)
Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE Aztec fan. See the front page of my blog? But I'm a realist. Maybe a disappointed realist. So when I see otherpeopleput SDSU in... It makes me pause. Maybe they are right. I could be wrong. I could be a Paladin with 18 charisma. And I would be happy with that.
But the numbers and history are showing me something different.
San Diego State can't seem to close the important games. I can't give us an Always Be Closing award because we've never lead by a great deal in these games. We just can't seem to stop making the ticky tack penalties that puts the other team at the free throw line!
The free throw prowess exhibited by the San Diego State men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon was hardly worthy of the Wizard of Westwood. And it sure was costly.
"You've just got to knock down shots when it counts," lamented junior wing Lorrenzo Wade.
In the end, San Diego State missed not only a chance to post a new best record in the program's Division I era through 10 games, but to earn a solid nonconference, neutral-site victory for their NCAA tournament resume.
Geez Louise that says it all. Fuckity.
Oh, and Steve Fisher? The season has officially started over now. We are 0-0 at this point, ranked 331st. Pick these kids up and start teaching fundamentals. FUNDAMENTALS! Or else Arizona will OWN us in two weeks!!!
May be slow posts for today/tomorrow because of work/blogpolling. The usual crap...
Gabby - Former Sports Illustrated.com contributor and all around college hoops addict Gabby is our editor-in-chief and so called "visionary".
The Gang - Associated tag alongs and suck ups who provide any support necessary for El Jefe.
We're just folks with the dream of enjoying every bit of college basketball possible. Don't expect in-depth analysis or serious picks. We just do color commentary on the wonderful thing that is the madness of NCAA Men's Basketball.
Had a conversation with an Aztec fan here at work. He kept on talking about 20 wins and how we look to be poised to get 20 wins and if we get 20 wins we'll get into the NCAA Tournament blah blah blah...
