BLUEDOGHOUSE END OF THE REGULAR SEASON TOP 25

[bobbygt]

I'm surprised posters aren't impressed with UNC. I think Harrison Barnes is better than anyone on UK.

They have 5 star talent, and a nice mixture of classes, whereas UK is predominantly freshman.

UNC was in the elite 8 last year and could've easily beat UK.

Finally, UNC has done very well handling NC expectations (see 2005 and 2009).

 

[intlzncster]

Somewhere, Dogmania sheds a tear...

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

No, it doesn't beg any question. The Cavs would murder Kentucky, end of story. The worst team in the NBA would name the score against whoever you wanted in college. C'mon, you sound ridiculous even suggesting otherwise. It's men against boys.

5 of the top 16 in the 2012 draft is the projection. This year the Cavs bring in Irving and Tristan Thompson with his 48.7 free throw %. Thompson has bust written all over him. Irving is softer then a hot knife cutting through butter. The Cavs are atrocious. The watered down NBA is a league filled with young kids. I was very glad to see Jared Sullinger set the precedent for other players returning to the college game this season. I hope he wins POY. Of course all my opinion. Have a good day!

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

You know, I thought you sounded insane until you mentioned Tristan Thompson's free throw percentage. Huh?

No college team is beating an NBA team. That's just how it is. Incidentally, a hot knife cutting through butter isn't soft, it's hot.

 

[Walker11]

Irving is a much better prospect than Teague first of all. And a fat Baron Davis would steal a freshman Teague's lunch.

A guy like Davis has tons of potential but would be a poor man's Varejao if he stepped on the court vs. an NBA team today.

Gilchrist could be very good but now is an unskilled, good athlete that has a great motor. I can't see him doing anything more than a less athletic Christian Eyenga if they were to play today.

Terrence Jones would be scored on every time by an old Antwan Jamison. Jones was would be comparable to Thompson. Its not like either would light the other up.

Doron Lamb aspires to be a rotation shooter off the bench like Boobie Gibson

And these are their best prospects...Uk goes 7 deep. The rest of their team is scrubs. The rest of the Cavs are ex-college stars. This is just a ridiculous statement.

 

[superjohn]

bobbygt, what do you mean by Carolina was in the elite 8 last year and could have easily beat Kenutcky. They played each other and Kentucky won. I think Anthony Davis and Gilchrist have more nba talent than Harrison Barnes and while Kentucky has lots of freshman playing a big roll on the team they also have back Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and Darius Miller.

 

[Dann]

- i feel the same about iona as i have said before
-i'm not big on the b10 this year right now, just posted about that
-sec. while uk is always the gem i think they have quality. ala/ark/vandy/fl etc. i think they are the 2nd best conf this year to the BE
-i am high on gonzaga, especially the pg
-duke will rack up wins on the acc4-12 teams just like unc so the record will be great but i don't see them as a legit top 8 team. i see a sweet16 exit for them this year
-i'm not that big on atm and i think the b12 has a bit of a down year. baylor is my pick with tex/kan/mizzu being in it. don't sleep on baylor.
-i like memphis alot also
-the pac stinks. az is good and ucla will rack up wins but i don't see them as a big threat. who is the 3rd best team in that conf? i'll take gonzaga over any one from the pac this year.
-the a10 this year is better at the top then the pac i think.

great read, thanks for sharing!

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

You know, I thought you sounded insane until you mentioned Tristan Thompson's free throw percentage. Huh?

No college team is beating an NBA team. That's just how it is. Incidentally, a hot knife cutting through butter isn't soft, it's hot.

The argument I would make against Kentucky is they have no depth behind Teague at the point. This means on any given night in the NCAA tournament or otherwise they are vulnerable. When Teague is hitting on all cylinders however Kentucky will be unbeatable. UConn will have Napier and Boatright (eventually) at the most important position on the floor.

 

[bobbygt]

bobbygt, what do you mean by Carolina was in the elite 8 last year and could have easily beat Kenutcky. They played each other and Kentucky won. I think Anthony Davis and Gilchrist have more nba talent than Harrison Barnes and while Kentucky has lots of freshman playing a big roll on the team they also have back Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and Darius Miller.

1. Carolina made it to the elite 8 last year
2. They barely lost to Kentucky in the elite 8 last year (it was a 1 pt game with 40 seconds left).

The entire UNC team is back.

UK lost some very important players from their FF team. They could've lost to Princeton if not for a last second Knight shot. Jorts was a huge reason they got by OSU.

Sure, UK has soem non-freshman returning, but their hyped because of their freshman. I would take a team that has just as many 5*, with an elite 8 appearance, over a team with lots of talent that hasn't done anything together.

 

[superjohn]

I just don't understand the they could have beat them comment, they didn't beat them, that's the same crap Kentucky players say about UConn last year. Also Kentucky will be a completely different team than last year and they definitely have more talent this year just as UConn does.

 

[bobbygt]

I just don't understand the they could have beat them comment, they didn't beat them, that's the same crap Kentucky players say about UConn last year. Also Kentucky will be a completely different team than last year and they definitely have more talent this year just as UConn does.

Actually, UNC did beat UK last year, during the regular season.

I see no problem with saying that UNC could've beat UK last year: the point is that they were very close to making it to the FF and they bring everyone back from that team. UK lost many important pieces on a team that went 1-1 against unc last year.

Therefore, I think one should give unc the advantage.

I'll take experience over talent all the time, especially when that experience has basically the same amount of talent.

Uconn won last year because Kemba became a upperclassman leader. Do you think Uconn wins last year with a freshman Walker?

I give the nod to unc over both UK and uconn (I hope I'm wrong).

 

[ctchamps]

Nice write up. Thanks for the info. I'm going to read this a few times and observe how the players you point out perform over the season.

Funny that you do this real in depth write up and a lot of the commentary is pointed to one comment.

 

[HuskyFan32]

Uh, let's take Robinson off that list, please. The kid was barely a Big East caliber athlete, as everyone knows.

Carolina's always going to get the benefit of the doubt, and get hyped beyond belief. I think Henson, Zeller, Barnes, McAdoo is a pretty good core of frontcourt players, but I don't think they're some kind of juggernaut. We'll see.

Completely agree. They have a very good frontcourt, but I dont think its any better than ours. Carolina is good, but not a top team of the decade or anything. And to the previous poster who said Henson is an elite athlete; hes not. Hes long and fairly quick but hes not explosive. When I think of top tier athleticism I think of a guy whose explosive and has that bounce in his step, ala Andre. Henson is not on that level.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Irving is a much better prospect than Teague first of all. And a fat Baron Davis would steal a freshman Teague's lunch.

A guy like Davis has tons of potential but would be a poor man's Varejao if he stepped on the court vs. an NBA team today.

Gilchrist could be very good but now is an unskilled, good athlete that has a great motor. I can't see him doing anything more than a less athletic Christian Eyenga if they were to play today.

Terrence Jones would be scored on every time by an old Antwan Jamison. Jones was would be comparable to Thompson. Its not like either would light the other up.

Doron Lamb aspires to be a rotation shooter off the bench like Boobie Gibson

And these are their best prospects...Uk goes 7 deep. The rest of their team is scrubs. The rest of the Cavs are ex-college stars. This is just a ridiculous statement.

"This is just a ridiculous statement"-Walker

The intent of the thread was to open up the conversation and debate over the substantive content of the subject heading. After UConn was beat by Notre Dame on senior night in Storrs to drop their Big East record to 9-9 (losing their last 4 of 5) most would have thought anyone who believed UConn would win the National Championship was ridiculous. I would say anyone who stated UConn would then run off 11 straight victories was bold not ridiculous. Admittedly, claiming this years Kentucky team could beat the Cavs 6 out of 10 times is bold. It is not ridiculous based on the talent base on Kentucky. I seriously doubt Doron Lamb aspires to be a rotation shooter off the bench. Gilchrist unskilled? Considering Irving's limited exposure to competition on the collegiate level it is hard to make the case he is more prepared for the NBA then Teague. Baron Davis is essentially finished with his bad knee and weight issues that will linger into his inevitable retirement. The sad thing is the Cavs took Davis in order to draft Irving when D Williams was on the board.

Fill Rupp with 23,500 fans and bring in the Cavs. I'll take this Kentucky team 60% of the time.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

- i feel the same about iona as i have said before
-i'm not big on the b10 this year right now, just posted about that
-sec. while uk is always the gem i think they have quality. ala/ark/vandy/fl etc. i think they are the 2nd best conf this year to the BE
-i am high on gonzaga, especially the pg
-duke will rack up wins on the acc4-12 teams just like unc so the record will be great but i don't see them as a legit top 8 team. i see a sweet16 exit for them this year
-i'm not that big on atm and i think the b12 has a bit of a down year. baylor is my pick with tex/kan/mizzu being in it. don't sleep on baylor.
-i like memphis alot also
-the pac stinks. az is good and ucla will rack up wins but i don't see them as a big threat. who is the 3rd best team in that conf? i'll take gonzaga over any one from the pac this year.
-the a10 this year is better at the top then the pac i think.

great read, thanks for sharing!

SEC and BE are the best conferences this year. The Zags are always well coached and the Stockton factor is always intriguing. I love Baylor to win the Big 12. Most are not sold on Memphis to make it to New Orleans. I will be bold and claim Memphis can win it all (I certainly hope they don't). Memphis is 1 year away (assuming the core returns). It will be a feeding frenzy for Duke and UNC in the ACC. California is projected by some as the #3 in the Pac 10. Pac 10 is weak again. Xavier and Temple at the top of the A10.

I absolutely love Iona . I look for Iona to beat a top seed in the 2nd round of the NCAA's. Possibly taking out a #1 or #2 seed.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Nice write up. Thanks for the info. I'm going to read this a few times and observe how the players you point out perform over the season.

Funny that you do this real in depth write up and a lot of the commentary is pointed to one comment.

It highlights some of the big games nationally before they occur. It is always my pleasure fleud. The boneyard rules and always will. JC will have UConn ready to pounce right before Selection Sunday!! Thanks for all your great posts.

Best Always...

 

[Walker11]

It is inconsiderate to focus on 1 small part of your post because it was very well thought out and the positive insights outweighed the negative by a huge margin, but your Cavs - UK sentiment is just that dumb IMO. My Lamb statement was poorly worded. Of course he dreams to be an all star or similar but based on his skill set, being a 3 point threat and rotational player would be a good goal from him. I've only seen Gilchrist play 2x so I will not rely on myself for that analysis - he is labelled as a sub-par shooter and solid ball handler by the recruiting guys who rank him as a top-5 talent.

It was a good post though and obviously spurred discussion.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

It is inconsiderate to focus on 1 small part of your post because it was very well thought out and the positive insights outweighed the negative by a huge margin, but your Cavs - UK sentiment is just that dumb IMO. My Lamb statement was poorly worded. Of course he dreams to be an all star or similar but based on his skill set, being a 3 point threat and rotational player would be a good goal from him. I've only seen Gilchrist play 2x so I will not rely on myself for that analysis - he is labelled as a sub-par shooter and solid ball handler by the recruiting guys who rank him as a top-5 talent.

It was a good post though and obviously spurred discussion.

Just some insight. I hate Kentucky and hope you are correct. Hate is all relative (nothing personal). My picks could obviously all be wrong. That is the fun of it! When talking hoops what better place then the boneyard? This is where the best fans in America hang out!

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Memphis is way too high. The team was a 12 seed in the tournament last year and had to win their conference tourney to even get in.

The Cavs would romp Kentucky.

Who do you see Memphis losing to this year in the regular season? Take the preseason rank and parlay that with their schedule and where would you rank them? You claim way to high so I'm assuming you have them out of the top 15 in the final regular season AP/coaches polls? If Memphis loses 3 regular season games this ranking will hold. Where are the 4 loses coming from?

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Good effort and I'm sure it took a while to compile. I too have some differences but I'm not going to discredit your valiant effort. Thanks, we will see how your projections pan out in a few months.

I worked on it while watching some of the key games UConn played last year. Mostly vetting some of our Big East opponents from a year ago and their returning players. Baylor is a bold #2.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

phil jackson coaches Memphis right?

LOL Luke Walton is an assistant at Memphis....Good 1

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

I'm surprised posters aren't impressed with UNC. I think Harrison Barnes is better than anyone on UK.

They have 5 star talent, and a nice mixture of classes, whereas UK is predominantly freshman.

UNC was in the elite 8 last year and could've easily beat UK.

Finally, UNC has done very well handling NC expectations (see 2005 and 2009).

The knock on UNC is that they are soft. We will find out when they play at Rupp on 12/3. This will be a nice appetizer before Arkansas/UConn @ the XL.

 

[TheChamps990411]

the passage about UK beating the Cavs, or any NBA team for that matter is laughable, hard to take this post too serious if you actually believe that.

completely agree. there is no college team ever who could beat an nba team. itd be blowout city by the nba team every time. davis,jamison,gibson and varejio are grown men who would physically dominate a bunch of 18 year olds on ku and irving is problably a better player than anyone on ku`s roster.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

completely agree. there is no college team ever who could beat an nba team. itd be blowout city by the nba team every time. davis,jamison,gibson and varejio are grown men who would physically dominate a bunch of 18 year olds on ku and irving is problably a better player than anyone on ku`s roster.

I think your analysis is misguided in the sense we are talking about the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs at the moment are one of the worst NBA teams since the leagues inception. Plus you are now adding "no college team ever who could beat an NBA team" under the premise we are dealing with grown men playing against 18-19 year old kids. So you are expanding the universe of opportunity.

http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/mdev_1992.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmp14KAeF1E

Apparently the "Dream Team" wasn't the top team on the court on this particular day against a bunch of college players.
The Kentucky example (provided link to mock draft) was to highlight what on paper is the most talented team in college basketball this year. The best team could be Carolina, UConn, Baylor, Syracuse or Memphis who really knows yet. Who do you have in the Final 4 besides UConn? An important point to make is that on a few college rosters this year (not just Kentucky) not only is there NBA talent but more importantly you will have chemistry on the best teams. In the college game these guys will live and die for each other (last years UConn team). Reflect back to the back to back champion Florida Gators in 06/07. There was some NBA talent but the reason the team was successful is because of chemistry and not wanting to let each other down. NBA teams in general don't have that very often. Over the course of a season egos get in the way and the team can become complacent and not care. This happens to almost every team each year at some point (that is the NBA mentality).

So I say there is no way that the worst NBA team (Cavaliers) could win 100 out of 100 games against the best college team. After all you are claiming it could never happen and the link above proves it already has. Looking at the lowly Cavaliers an NBA team at its worse. If you have watched them play as I have regularly their typical mind set is commonplace in the NBA (with the bad teams). They play for their own stats. They don't trust a teammate to be where they are supposed to be. The best college teams are together. They sacrifice for each other. The chemistry is smooth. Team goals are more important.

In basketball that goes a long way. Its a game of skill. But winning at it takes timing and positioning as well. The Cavaliers will have more breakdowns in those areas.

They could do this for a charity event. Take the champion from this year against the worst NBA team (Cavaliers). Do you have the background to discuss how various college teams will fair this year? If so lets discuss. I would enjoy it. Do you think UConn will be higher then #9 in the polls at seasons end (before March Madness)?

 

[TheChamps990411]

1. it was a 20 minute scrimmage. how is that a complete game?
2.. its a team of college all stars with a 7 footer and 4 other frontcourt players who averaged 250lbs. im willing to bet only one or two of kentuckys kids weigh that much.
3.what part of a COLLEGE TEAM vs NBA TEAM didnt you understand? i never said anything about a bunch of college all stars. you pull out this old story which any knowledgeable fan would know and its a piss poor example. your comparing a team made up of mostly sophomores and freshmen whove never played a college game to a team with a bunch of sophomores and juniors who were among the greatest college players of the last 30 years at the time of that scrimmage. come on man. this ku would not beat the cavs or any nba team. again no college team will ever beat an nba team. never have never will.