tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post1319053167349664087..comments2023-10-31T06:31:41.395-04:00Comments on Bottom of the Barrel: Pat Forde Ranks College Basketball's Best ConferencesBengoodfellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09401971573776672570noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-70997045178296664782010-02-20T20:02:27.096-05:002010-02-20T20:02:27.096-05:00Go, I think Singler is a better player but Smith h...Go, I think Singler is a better player but Smith has the best potential at the next level. Singler has a hard time trying to guard or score against a player that is a typical small forward. I think Maryland should get better than a #7 seed, but you are right, it may not happen. I still like Maryland in the NCAA Tournament, of course it will be hard road if they land a Kentucky or a team like that in the 2nd round. I have faith in them though.<br /><br />Vasquez should be PoY over Scheyer. I would vote for him. <br /><br />In regard to Duke recruiting, the recruiting has gone down not because the Duke Administration told Coach K to but it was a conscious decision by him to avoid players who he couldn't have in his program for more than 1-2 years. He actually is going away from this policy now because he has to in order to compete. <br /><br />I don't think it was Duke Admin, but Coach K would saw Maggette and William Avery go pro before he viewed them as ready (He hated both Avery and Maggette turning pro). He started to change who he recruited a little bit at that point and didn't pay as much attention to guys who would stay only 1 year for a while after the Deng departure and committing time to Shaun Livingston only to have him enter the draft. He realized he was spending time on guys who weren't going to be around for 3-4 years. <br /><br />That's not the real problem with Duke recruiting, because most of it involves him backing the wrong players. For example, Hansbrough was down between Duke and UNC and Coach K paid more attention and had McRoberts over Hansbrough. Also, other teams have straight beaten Duke out for recruits, specifically Greg Monroe, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe, John Wall (sort of), and now Harrison Barnes. <br /><br />I've read so many accounts about how few people in Duke Administration can tell Coach K what to do. He pretty much tells them he is the boss, which he is.Bengoodfellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09401971573776672570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-66143974402501092732010-02-20T18:10:04.639-05:002010-02-20T18:10:04.639-05:00Re: Duke recruiting, didn't the administration...Re: Duke recruiting, didn't the administration get on Coach K's case when Brand, Maggette, and later Deng and McRoberts went pro early? I'm pretty sure he has to land recruits that plan on graduating from the school, which would limit his recruiting pool. I could be wrong though. BGF would definitely know more than I would.ivnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-35423126052781360092010-02-20T11:47:14.993-05:002010-02-20T11:47:14.993-05:00Agreed that Singler is the better player. He remi...Agreed that Singler is the better player. He reminds me of Dunleavy. Tall, lankyand a great outside shooter. It's hard to guard those type of players in college. Nolan Smith may even be better than Scheyer.<br /> Duke had its way with MD last week. I do think MD will play much better on March 3rd but Duke's size just kills MD. Zoubek is the 1st team All-American pick if he plays MD every game. I don't remember where MD last beat Duke. <br /> MD's ceiling may be the second round. If we get a 7-10 seed, we'll have to play a team like UK, Syracuse, Kansas in the second round. No way we can handle any of those #1 or #2 seeds. We're incredible at home but don't play with a lot of energy away from Comcast. <br /> The voters I think will take the best player on the best team. JS was incredible vs. MD while GV stunk up the place at Cameron. GV will have to have a great game against Duke to win POY.<br />His shimmies, which I love watching, could hurt him with voters.<br /> Duke beats GTown now, especially if on a neutral court. I'm just so confused with K's recruiting the last ten years. His players are just not the same as they used to be in the 90s when they were dominating everyone. <br /> I don't think UNC will be a lot better next year. They have a lot of holes to fill, especially at PG.Gohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11309871029061042816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-84213062516854798022010-02-20T11:11:47.248-05:002010-02-20T11:11:47.248-05:00Jay Bilas just said the Big East tournament is the...Jay Bilas just said the Big East tournament is the best tournament because all the teams are good. You know except for DePaul, Rutgers, and Providence...all of whom are just not very good basketball teams. Other than of course, they are all great.Bengoodfellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09401971573776672570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-67918872772067325272010-02-19T22:25:46.233-05:002010-02-19T22:25:46.233-05:00Kent, maybe he was stereotyping Alabama people. On...Kent, maybe he was stereotyping Alabama people. On second thought, maybe so. <br /><br />We'll see how good the Big East is here soon but the record you showed and their record against other conferences isn't impressive. <br /><br />Ivn, I am not entirely on the bandwagon, I didn't say I did not like them. I think they are good but I don't know if I believe they are better than they are last year. That's all. Maybe they will advance past the Sweet 16 this year and I should have liked them more. <br /><br />I haven't seen enough of UNM to judge them at this point. I wish I had. <br /><br />The Pac-10 is terrible. I almost wish I had ranked them below the MVC. <br /><br />That bracket may be a winner, of course like you said we don't know how teams will get matched up.Bengoodfellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09401971573776672570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-70480020344561409032010-02-19T19:50:18.533-05:002010-02-19T19:50:18.533-05:00I'm with Martin on the ice skating thing. Outs...I'm with Martin on the ice skating thing. Outside of New England, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and a couple of other states (the Dakotas and Colorado maybe?) its not like ice skating and hockey are much of a pasttime in the country. Hell I live in Washington state and there's probably only one or two rinks within 30-40 miles of where I am. <br /><br />Not high on Purdue this year BGF? I know they have had some trouble closing out games recently but they're still so damn good. And what do you think UNM can do, assuming you've even seen enough to judge them?<br /><br />Also the stats can't even begin to describe how terrible the Pac 10 is this year. Watching the games on FSN is brutal. I can't remember the last time one of the power conferences was only able to get one team in.<br /><br />Before the season my Final Four was Kansas, Nova, MSU, and Purdue. Now (of course its useless without seeing the bracket) I would go with Kansas, Kentucky, MSU, and maybe Nova or Purdue.ivnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-76961527041059972262010-02-19T16:41:39.631-05:002010-02-19T16:41:39.631-05:0028-23, that's the record of the Big East after...28-23, that's the record of the Big East after pulling out it's dominance of the A-10. So it's basically .500 against the rest of the country. Not exactly the sterling numbers one would hope for from the #1 conference.<br /><br />I think Pat might have been stereotyping folks from Alabama not being able to ice skate and not African-Americans there Ben :) He'd probably say the same thing about someone from SoCal.Martin F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14565240074256943063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-70232987243649735652010-02-19T16:14:31.114-05:002010-02-19T16:14:31.114-05:00Great point about the Big East having 16 teams, so...Great point about the Big East having 16 teams, so therefore they will have more teams make the tourney because they have more teams. I don't like how Pat Forde did this article, I thought it was a bad way to look at who the best conference is. I think between the two ways he compared conferences, possibly comparing head-to-head games are the best...but then the Big East isn't the best conference. <br /><br />I do think they have the best set of 4 teams. <br /><br />I don't know if Duke destroyed Maryland. They did beat them, but they still have to play them at Maryland, which is always not fun. I don't think Scheyer should get PoY over Vasquez. Vasquez is the best all-around player in the ACC. In fact, Singler is a better all-around player than Scheyer. Scheyer will get it, but I don't think he should necessarily, though he has come up big late in games lately...but Vasquez is still better. <br /><br />I saw statistics today that had Maryland (statistically) as the 12th best team in the country. If it is possible, I think the ACC may be underrated. I don't know of many teams that will want to run into Maryland, GT, or FSU in the tourney. <br /><br />Disrespect Scheyer all you want when it is the truth.Bengoodfellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09401971573776672570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-28003918306485741992010-02-19T14:39:23.993-05:002010-02-19T14:39:23.993-05:00By the way Ben. Duke did destroy us last week and...By the way Ben. Duke did destroy us last week and are the best team in the conference by far. But I am certain Schyer will win ACC POY over Vasquez. The voters will do this. I say without bias (I think) that GV deserves it. His surrounding cast's talent is no where near Schyers and if you look at only ACC games, Greivis' numbers are just absurd. No disprespect the Scheyer.Gohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11309871029061042816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102327997051254703.post-1180854578343615472010-02-19T14:35:53.176-05:002010-02-19T14:35:53.176-05:00I'll first admit that the Big East has the mos...I'll first admit that the Big East has the most teams deserving of the tournament. The conference is a beast this year.<br />But I get irrated at those who say that since Big East got "x" amount of teams into the tournamnet, while another conference had one or two less, that the Big East is the superior conference. <br />Why doesn't anyone bring up how having sixteen teams will give you a greater chance of having the most playing in the tournament?<br />If the ACC or Big 12 picked up four more then maybe you could compare the conferences by how many teams they put in. Until that happens I think you have to compare conference a different way.Gohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11309871029061042816noreply@blogger.com