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College Basketball 2009-2010

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NewLib

Banned
Well that was a pretty pathetic second half. Kept turning the ball over. Got completely out of our game plan. At least the defense stayed pretty good.

Oh well, good win. UConn is going to be tough on this team though.
 
home from the game.

the first half was god like, and shows what we are capable of it we are executing on all cylinders.

the second half shows how far we still need to come, yet also shows that 'grittiness' that has let us win so far, despite our massive flaws.

the freshmen. oh the freshmen. sometimes, they look, together, like nothing will stop them. sometimes, they look like freshmen who have only played 8 college basketball games in their entire lives.

come march, i expect most of the game will play out like half #1.

and you've gotta admit, that 28-2 run was fucking unreal.

uconn will be hard. doable, but hard. we're learning every game, and looking better and more cohesive more often because of it. frustration does kick in, and we try to force the issue too much still because of it, but we are getting there.

UK is now 8-0. 1996 total wins. and a quality win over UNC (IMO).
 

devilhawk

Member
Both teams looked just short of pathetic in the half court. That will cost them later on in the year if it doesn't change. Hard to overlook the 7 turnovers Wall had too.
 
Brian Fellows said:
Do you think there is someone who is going to argue that?
thisisneogaf.gif

you never know
devilhawk said:
Both teams looked just short of pathetic in the half court. That will cost them later on in the year if it doesn't change. Hard to overlook the 7 turnovers Wall had too.
we had 20 TO's. that continues to be a huge problem for us. wall had 7, beldsoe had 4. they've gotta learn to control a little better, get a littler smarter. the talent is there, they're getting some experience...
 

NewLib

Banned
Evan Turner out for 2 months after fracturing veterbraes from a bad fall after an attempted dunk.

Tough break, hope he can come back 100% because he is a great player to watch and Ohio State has a good team when Turner is on.
 

SyNapSe

Member
NewLib said:
Evan Turner out for 2 months after fracturing veterbraes from a bad fall after an attempted dunk.

Tough break, hope he can come back 100% because he is a great player to watch and Ohio State has a good team when Turner is on.

Oh man, fractured vertebrae sounds bad :\ He was having a killer start to the year also.

Mizzou is putting a fucking beatdown on Oregon right now up 35 points. What happened w/ Eddie Kent at Oregon, it seems like they've fallen off quite a bit.
 
Okay, I was asleep during the game. I really, really thought UK would lose this, because we have "FRAUD" written all over us. I guess we'll know for sure after Connecticut.
 

NewLib

Banned
You know the SEC is playing better than a lot of people are giving it credit. It does have some shitty teams (Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia), but the top 6-7 teams are doing pretty well.

SEC has 6 Tournament teams right now (UK, UT, UF, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, USC) and Alabama could make an argument by the end of the year too.
 

Karakand

Member
Hey guys, remember when I said Ben Howland should have been shit-canned years ago? Never doubt the master.
az8nxe.jpg
 

SyNapSe

Member
noted Karakand. You've definately been anti-Howland for a while!

I hope Reeves Nelson is ok, that eye looks bad. Great effort from that kid to this point.
 

Karakand

Member
Taking amazing talents and retarding their growth because you think it's 1964 does require a certain degree of genius, yes.
 

NewLib

Banned
Karakand said:
Taking amazing talents and retarding their growth because you think it's 1964 does require a certain degree of genius, yes.

I hear Billy Gillepsie is still a free agent. Better jump on that quick.
 

Karakand

Member
Billy G couldn't handle the temptations of Babylon. Howland thinks he actually lives in Ancient Babylon still. Sound like an upgrade to me from here.

BTW I feel kinda bad not seeing freaking KANSAS in the flesh today but I'm not spending money on the program until I'm heard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
9-0. 1997 wins. wins against UNC(#11 at the time), at Rupp, and against UCONN (#12 at the time) AT madison square garden.

we are STILL freshmen. but fuck if they aren't clutch. we try to lose, but we just can't. fuck yeah. i cannot WAIT until january, then february, then fucking march.

Kentucky is real. Wall rules all.

see you again AT indiana on saturday.
 

NewLib

Banned
This team is bad. Seriously Wall and Patterson are so good that they carrying this team. Bledsoe doesnt know what to do with the ball. Orton and Cousins will getting better at defense cant establish themselves on offense. Miller needs to learn to get his shot. Dodson needs to learn to play defense.

Just a frustrating team to watch, but they keep winning. Hopefully the stretch after Indiana game will help them fine tune.
 

jehuty

Member
Ha, that's what the badgers get for playing horrible and boring basketball (swing offense). Since Wisconsin beat Duke, And Green Bay beat Wisconsin, does that mean that Green Bay is better than Duke?

Now Wisconsin has Marquette and Milwaukee coming up. One of those games is a guaranteed lose. Say bye bye to the rankings Badger fans!!!
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
dick vitale was depressing me pretty badly talking about john wall being a one-and-done guy last night. i mean, i know that's probably true, but watching a kid like that play four years of college ball would just be insane.
 

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
Dear Wisconsin,

Thanks for losing to Green Bay and fucking up our RPI and making us look more like frauds than we already do.

Love Duke.

PS Please send your thoughts and prayers to Andre Dawkins who lost his sister last Saturday in a bad car wreck. She was on her way to see Duke play the Johnies and never made it.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
So I guess one of the hot stories so far this season is Harvard and their awesome asian-american player Jeremy Lin. Sucks about all the ethnic prejudice crap he has to go through despite being American born and raised.

Jeremy Lin highlights from the UConn game where he dropped 30, snagged 9 boards and also had some nice dunks and an awesome block in transition.

ncb_i_lin12_400.jpg


The jump hook he used to score his first bucket of the game? That came from Kareem.

The perfect form on his jumper? Larry Bird deserves credit for that.

The power end-to-end drive with a dunk to finish? Vintage Dr. J.

The sweet dribble penetration and kickout? Score one for Magic.

As Jeremy Lin dissected and bisected Connecticut to the tune of 30 points Sunday afternoon, his father sat in front of a computer screen on the other side of the country, watching his videotape library of NBA greats come to life in the form of his son.

All those years Gie-Ming Lin spent rewinding his tapes so he could teach himself how to play a game he never even saw until he was an adult? All those hours spent in the local Y with his boys, schooling them in fundamentals over and over, building muscle memory without even knowing what the term meant? That silly dream, the one in which his children would fall in love with basketball as much as he had?

There it was, borne out in a gym in Storrs, Conn.

"Every time he did something good, they'd play it over and over again," Gie-Ming said from his home in Palo Alto, Calif. "I kept watching, and they kept showing him."

Soon the rest of the college basketball world might be turning its collective eye toward Jeremy Lin. Think about what the senior has done just this week for Harvard, which is off to its best start (7-2) in 25 years.

In keeping his team in the game right to the end, Lin scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed nine boards in a 79-73 loss to No. 12 UConn. Then, in the Crimson's 74-67 upset at Boston College on Wednesday -- the second straight season Harvard has beaten BC -- Lin contributed 25 points.

So in two games against New England's annual NCAA tournament participants, Lin scored 55 points and shot 64 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line.

He boasts an all-around repertoire rarely on display. Last season Lin was the only player in the nation to rank among the top 10 players in his conference in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and 3-point percentage.

This year? He is merely second in the Ivy League in scoring (18.6 points), 10th in rebounding (5.3), fifth in field-goal percentage (51.6 percent), third in assists (4.6), second in steals (2.4), sixth in blocked shots (1.2) and top of the pile in turning the heads of esteemed basketball minds, including Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun.

"I've seen a lot of teams come through here, and he could play for any of them," the longtime UConn coach said of Lin. "He's got great, great composure on the court. He knows how to play."


And he learned how to play thanks to his father's determination.

Jeremy is not the product of some Marv Marinovich in high-tops, desperate to cultivate the perfect basketball player, but rather a 5-foot-6 immigrant who long ago fell in love with a game and realized that in that game, his own children could gain entry into mainstream America.

Gie-Ming Lin was born in Taiwan, where academics were stressed and athletics ignored. He caught an occasional glimpse of basketball and, for reasons he can't explain, was immediately smitten with the game.

He dreamed of coming to the United States for two reasons: to complete his Ph.D. and "to watch the NBA."

That happened in 1977 when Gie-Ming enrolled at Purdue University for his doctorate in computer engineering. He flipped on the television, and there it was: the NBA in all its late-1970s glory. Kareem, Moses and Dr. J, with Jordan, Bird and Magic waiting in the wings.

"My dad," Jeremy said, "is a complete basketball junkie."

Gie-Ming's first job took him to Los Angeles, where the grueling demands and long hours had him searching for some sort of athletic release.

"I thought it would be great to play basketball," Gie-Ming said.

Only problem? He didn't have the slightest idea how. He had never picked up a ball in his life.

So he turned his attention back to those gripping NBA games. Armed with videotapes of his favorite players, Gie-Ming studied the game with the same fervor he studied for his Ph.D.

"I would just imitate them over and over; I got my hook shot from Kareem," Gie-Ming said, laughing.

It took him years to feel comfortable enough to play in a pickup game, and as he bided his time he decided then -- long before he even had children -- that his own kids would grow up knowing the game from an early age.

When first-born Joshua turned 5, Gie-Ming carted him to the local Y to begin teaching him those valuable skills stored on his videotapes.

Jeremy followed, and then youngest brother Joseph joined in what became a three-nights-a-week routine. The boys would finish their homework and around 8:30 head to the Y with their father for 90 minutes of drills or mini-games.

Forget that all of the players on those videos had long since retired, that the guy with Kareem's hook shot wouldn't hit Abdul-Jabbar's armpit. Gie-Ming recognized what so many other youth coaches have forgotten over time: The foundation for success is the basics.

"I realized if I brought them from a young age it would be like second nature for them," Gie-Ming said. "If they had the fundamentals, the rest would be easy."

His passion soon became their passion, and as the boys grew up, those 90-minute sessions would turn into wee-hour wars, with the boys scrounging for whatever gym they could find to play.

Joshua would star at Henry M. Gunn High School. Jeremy would enroll at rival Palo Alto High, where Joseph is now a sophomore.

Jeremy was special. He had his father's passion, his own inner motivation and a frame that would sprout to 6-foot-3. A good enough scorer to play 2-guard, Jeremy also was a savvy enough playmaker -- thanks to his dad and Magic -- to play the point. He's a solid outside shooter, but his dad, Julius and Kareem conspired to give him a reliable game around the rim.

In other words, he was otherworldly, a kid so talented that his freshman coach stood up at the team banquet and declared, "Jeremy has a better skill set than anyone I've ever seen at his age."

Named to the varsity as a freshman, Jeremy would earn honors as sophomore of the year and two-time most valuable player in his league.

Immersed in the game as he was, Jeremy never thought he was anything but a normal kid who liked basketball.

Until, that is, the insults came at him, the taunts to go back to China or open his eyes.

He was an Asian-American basketball player, an oddity and a curiosity in the cruel world of high school, where nothing is safer than being like everyone else.

"It was definitely a lot tougher for me growing up," he said. "There was just an overall lack of respect. People didn't think I could play."

His father offered sage advice.

"I told him people are going to say things to him, but he had to stay calm and not get excited by these words; they are only words," Gie-Ming said. "I told him to just win the game for your school and people will respect you."


Once more, Gie-Ming was right. In his senior season Jeremy averaged 15 points, seven assists, six rebounds and five steals, leading Palo Alto to a 32-1 record and a stunning 51-47 victory over nationally ranked Mater Dei in the CIF Division II state championship game.

Along the way, he converted some of the people who had mocked him. When Palo Alto played Mater Dei, students from both Jeremy's high school and rival Henry M. Gunn High crowded a local pizza joint to cheer for Jeremy and his team.

Converting people outside Northern California was more difficult. By his senior season, Lin was the runaway choice for player of the year by virtually every California publication. Yet he didn't receive a single Division I scholarship offer.

Lin doesn't know why, but believes his ethnicity played a part.

Asian-Americans make up just 0.4 percent of Division I basketball rosters, according to the latest NCAA numbers. That equates to 20 players out of 5,051.

Harvard offered an education with a hefty price tag. (The Ivy League offers no athletic scholarships.) But it also offered the chance to play Division I ball. So Lin went without hesitation.

Four extremely successful years into his college career, he now finds himself packaged into an uncomfortable box. Lin is at once proud and frustrated with his place as the flag-bearer for Asian-American basketball players.

The Harvard uniform, the Asian background, it all still makes Jeremy something of a novelty. What he longs for most of all is to be a basketball player.

Not an Asian-American basketball player, just a basketball player.

"Jeremy has been one of the better players in the country for a while now," said Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, who, as a Duke graduate and former head coach at both Seton Hall and Michigan, knows a thing or two about talent. "He's as consistent as anyone in the game. People who haven't seen him are wowed by what they see, but we aren't. What you see is who he is."

But stereotypes die hard and remain propagated by the ignorant. At UConn, as Jeremy stepped to the free-throw line for the first time, one disgraceful student chanted, "Won-ton soup."

"I do get tired of it; I just want to play," Lin said. "But I've also come to accept it and embrace it. If I help other kids, than it's worth it."

In their 109-year history, the Crimson have never won an Ivy League title and have managed only three second-place finishes. They have had just one league player of the year -- Joe Carrabino in 1984.

The last Harvard man to suit up in the NBA? Ed Smith in 1953.

Lin could change all of that, a thought that boggles the mind of the man who fell in love with a sport so many years ago.

"All this time he was growing up, I never thought about Jeremy playing in college or professionally," Gie-Ming said. "I just enjoyed watching him play. I'm just so proud of him and so happy for him. I told him my dream already has come true."
 

Tamanon

Banned
beelzebozo said:
dick vitale was depressing me pretty badly talking about john wall being a one-and-done guy last night. i mean, i know that's probably true, but watching a kid like that play four years of college ball would just be insane.

Just not going to happen anymore. If a player shows a modicum of individual skill, they're bolting.
 
Cal beat up on UOP on the road last night for another decent win. Sounds like they're starting to play a bit better and get healthy. Theo Robertson finally got some minutes last night after sitting out a bunch of games with a foot injury. Next game is at Kansas. *gulp*
XiaNaphryz said:
So I guess one of the hot stories so far this season is Harvard and their awesome asian-american player Jeremy Lin.
Good article on Lin. Glad to see him getting some press even though he's a Paly kid. :p
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
Tamanon said:
Just not going to happen anymore. If a player shows a modicum of individual skill, they're bolting.

you've gotta wonder why he even comes for one year, then; the logical reason, i guess, is to raise your perceived value and then jump NBA after a year. but still, fuck, what a tease.
 

arstal

Whine Whine FADC Troll
beelzebozo said:
you've gotta wonder why he even comes for one year, then; the logical reason, i guess, is to raise your perceived value and then jump NBA after a year. but still, fuck, what a tease.

If he didn't have to, he wouldn't, he'd go straight to the NBA.

Stupid rule really.
 

Tamanon

Banned
beelzebozo said:
you've gotta wonder why he even comes for one year, then; the logical reason, i guess, is to raise your perceived value and then jump NBA after a year. but still, fuck, what a tease.

He only went to college because he has to. NBA requires at least one year out from high school before joining now.
 

pxleyes

Banned
Huge game tonight for the Gators. Could easily be the biggest game in the last 2 years of the program. Time to make a real comeback.
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
arstal said:
If he didn't have to, he wouldn't, he'd go straight to the NBA.

Stupid rule really.

Tamanon said:
He only went to college because he has to. NBA requires at least one year out from high school before joining now.

didn't know this at all. very interesting.

pxleyes said:
Huge game tonight for the Gators. Could easily be the biggest game in the last 2 years of the program. Time to make a real comeback.

what time does this start? is it on ESPN?
 
Oh yeah, Beelze, while you were gone from the world of College basketball for the last few years, they made it where a kid must attend one year of college before entering the NBA. It really should be two or none at all (Which I think is best)
 

bachikarn

Member
arstal said:
If he didn't have to, he wouldn't, he'd go straight to the NBA.

Stupid rule really.

Some coaches like the idea of letting students go after high school, but if they chose to go to college, they have to play for 3 years (I think this is the rule in baseball?). I think that is a good compromise. It is hard to build a team when you have no idea if a player will go in 1,2, or 3 years. That is partially the reason why the Gators sucked. We had a couple of players that were though to be 3 year players bolted after 2.
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
definitely want to watch florida play tonight. they're always fun. billy donovan rawks; some part of me wishes he'd taken over the UK coaching job after pitino left.
 

Overlee

Member
My god UCLA is getting killed by Mississippi State. Down by 21 points at half time. Someone needs to make a bringbackstevelavin.com

k2e59h.jpg
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
NewLib said:
So apparently Alabama is good...

<3 Coach Grant. I should watch more of our games. We play ranked teams tough whenever I catch one. :lol
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
perfectchaos007 said:
Well Bama just blew a 16 point lead. lol. They're gonna pull a Clemson

Nah. We're not quite there yet. Don't have the scholarship depth. Coach Grant will have us back in the tournament within the next few years, so that's a solid start.
 
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