Release From Hibernation: NBA Draft Early Entrants Part 2

Continuing the slow return of content on this here blog, some more fun NBA Draft stuff coming your way today. Last week I looked at the guys who declared early for the draft and hired an agent. Today we will look at some folks that are “testing the waters,” as the kids say. Now, there are a million of these folks, so some might get left out and many of these looks will be brief.

Before we get into each player, a disclaimer: With the new rule that NBA teams pay for expenses for a player’s individual workout, there should be some obvious decisions to be made. First, NO ONE should finish college without declaring for the draft. I might be missing something here, but if there is no money to lose, then there is absolutely nothing to lose by declaring and not hiring an agent. The school year is over by draft time, most college coaches are gonna want you in the weight room or on the track in the morning around this time of year, all the chicks are off campus, you get exposure, a chance to play directly in front of NBA execs and you get an idea of where you might fall in the Draft. Plus, if you play decent enough you could get more scouts at your games if you go back to college.

Guys like George Hill at IUPUI, Courtney Pigram at East Tennessee State and Walter Sharpe at UAB are a few players who have realized this. Maybe they have a career game in a pre-draft camp, maybe they fit a specific team’s need, maybe some scout’s latte is spiked with angel dust and he hallucinates that you scored 55 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and swallowed a unicorn whole. WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TYLER?

So yeah, keep that in mind as we look at some of these folks.

Darrell Arthur- This is an interesting case because he’s probably already a lottery pick, and yet there is still work to be done. Signs of a mid-range jumper emerged late in the season, which is exactly what scouts were worried about, so the only thing left is probably some strength and overall polish. I think Arthur is a stud, quite frankly and I’m not sure how much better he can get next year at Kansas. He’s very quick and very fast for a power forward and has all the tools to be a go-to scorer once some post moves emerge. Sacramento and New Jersey should fight to the death for this man.

Mario Chalmers- Everyone in the NBA should want Chalmers as their back-up point. He’s probably not going to go as high as he wants, but he has no reason to go back.

Donte Greene- As a Syracuse fan, I obviously want him to come back. The Orange would be filthy next year if he did. And with a final month of the season that basically saw him shoot 25-footers from 30 minutes a game, you wouldn't think he'd be a lottery pick, which is probably what he wants. But the problem is, for me at least, that Greene is a 6-10 athlete with unlimited range and probably one of the top five offensive players in the draft if he stays in. He needs a lot of work, specifically on defense and rebounding, to play either forward spot in the pros, but I fear he's going to hear what he wants once GMs see him in workouts. (sigh).

Chase Budinger- It’s quite possible that Chase has peaked at the ripe old age of 20. The talent is there but if he goes back is he suddenly going to become a good defender or someone that actually cares about basketball 100 percent of the time? No, especially not on a team with a weird coaching situation and yet another incoming guard to steal shots and the spotlight. Budinger isn’t a lottery pick this year, but I don’t think he is next year either. He’s probably a 20-24 guy that will go higher because he’ll be a workout wonder. So I guess he should stay in.

Joe Alexander- I’m not sure what Alexander’s role is in the NBA. It appears his best quality is his scoring and he’s not going to be a go-to scorer in the NBA because there won’t be the mismatches he so frequently saw in college. So why do you draft him? Unless he improves his range out to the NBA three line, you don’t. He’s not an NBA starter right now and should probably go back to school, but I could still justify a playoff team taking him around No. 20 as a potential rotation guy. He and Budinger will have many workouts together, which will most certainly be followed by a friendly milkshake at the diner and some Scrabble.

JJ Hickson- Get the hell out of there JJ, while you still can. I was surprised he didn’t hire an agent right away. I’m assuming due to the atrociousness of the Wolf Pack last year, not enough NBA scouts know about him yet, which is why he might be skeptical of his position. But once he starts working out, he will rise on the draft boards. He needs to work on conditioning and his defense, but the potential to be a great scorer in the NBA is there. He’s a 15-20 guy right now and would be interesting on Philly or Washington.

Ryan Anderson- He’s like Alexander, except taller and better in my opinion. Most people don’t have this opinion. Chad Ford thinks he’s a bubble first-rounder and NBADraft.net doesn’t even think he’ll stay in the Draft, while Alexander is in most top 20s. Anderson is a guy that needs the right fit, an up tempo team with multiple forward options and a good point guard. Some people will say he’s a “tweener” but I don’t there really are tweener forwards anymore. He’s a small-ball power forward and with basically every team in the NBA making frequent use of a small line-up, Anderson could be a legit 15-point scorer pretty soon on a team that likes the pick and pop or has a go-to post scorer that attracts double teams. Teams in the 17-24 range that make sense are Toronto, Cleveland, Denver and (obviously) Utah.

Russell Westbrook- You’re gone Russ. Seriously don’t go back there; we need you in the NBA. I would take Westbrook over every guard in the Draft besides Rose and Mayo. He’s got perfect size, quickness and explosiveness for a combo guard in a league that has seen combo guards thrive under the new rules. He is already a great defender and if he can develop any type of consistent jumper, he will be an assassin. Some will say he needs to be more of a point guard but that would take away a lot of his value because he wouldn’t be going to the basket as much. I hate comparing players but he reminds me very much of Monta Ellis, who will be a top 25 NBA player soon. When all is said and done I expect Westbrook to be a Top 7 guy and end up as possibly one of the top three from this class looking back. So yeah, he should stay in the draft.

Jamont Gordon- Consider me a staunch Jamont Gordon supporter. The big point guard fits much better in the NBA than college because teams can't pack it in on you if you're not a great shooter, which Gordon is not, and guards can actually utilize a post game, which Gordon possesses. He’s going to have to cover shooting guards in the NBA though and is useless as a spot-up shooter off kick-outs, but I don’t see how a guy with his size, ball-handling and strength can’t be a major asset in the NBA. In terms of draft position, which you know, affects his well-being, he should go back, but for me, he is a perfect early-second round steal.

DeAndre Jordan- No one player’s value will be more disputed by me than Jordan. Obviously based on athleticism and size, he is a perfect NBA center. People will see Andrew Bynum and flip out and want to take him Top 10, which will keep him in the draft. But seriously, the guy was terrible last year. He couldn’t stay on the court, took bad shots and nearly all of his success was due to just being bigger and more athletic than everyone. In the right, patient organization he could be great but, man, how can you take someone this unproven in the age-minimum era? Either way, Dick Vitale’s head will explode over Jordan’s draft slot.

Antonio Anderson- Antonio knows exactly what I was talking about in the intro.

Robert Dozier- In cahoots with Antonio Anderson.

Marreese Speights- He could go back to Florida and be a Top 10 guy in 2009, but right now, he’s still pretty freaking good. He’s already got the prototypical NBA power forward body and will be able to hold his own athletically. Speights won’t be a post scorer in the League for another few years though, so whichever team between 12 and 17 takes him will need a viable starting option already.

AJ Abrams- He doesn’t really have any chance of making the first round unless teams are just foaming at the mouth to give a guaranteed contract to a guy whose ceiling is “Eddie House.” Come back and learn to play some point AJ, then we can talk.

Wayne Ellington- I can’t decide if Ellington is a sucky prospect or if he’s just equivalent to Rashad McCants (sadly, not this Rashad McCants). He’s a first-round bubble guy because he pales in comparison to guys like Brandon Rush and Chris Douglas-Roberts. His problem is he doesn’t do one thing exceptionally well and he is undersized. Again, returning to school isn’t going to help his stock that much, but it will be a weaker draft class next year and UNC would probably win the title. Oh, and something like this will still be in the realm of possibility for his life.

Danny Green- He’s actually a better pro prospect than his teammate Ellington because he has better size, long arms and more athleticism. Green sacrificed his numbers because he fit that sixth man role on UNC so well and I think he could eventually fill that role in the NBA. Plus there is the potential for him to be a defensive stopper on an opponent’s best wing player. For some reason I still feel like him, Ellington and Lawson already know they are going back and are just testing the waters in case some team makes a crazy promise. With Isiah Thomas and Billy Knight not in this draft, they shouldn’t hold their breath.

Ty Lawson- Unfortunately the lasting image of Lawson was him clearly not at full strength. He is really fast and a good playmaker, but there were some serious flaws evident this year. He can’t shoot, he has no mid-range game and he seemed to play smaller this year than his freshman year, if that makes any sense. He’s not an NBA starter, plain and simple. That being said, he is probably a late first-rounder, so that might be enough. I’d stay in school, try to get that swag back, win a title, ride some Psycho T coattail and be a Top 5 point in 2009’s class.

Alonzo Gee- Maybe next year.

Lee Cummard- Google search nightmare.

Kosta Koufos- I went all crazy over Koufos in the beginning of the year, as did many NBA scouts I’m sure. Then he basically hit the wall and realized they don’t take kindly to his kind in the college ranks. I still don’t see how a 7-1 power forward who can shoot and handle the ball will fail in the NBA, but I’m not sure he’s a lottery pick right now. Although once NBA scouts see a 7-1 kid nail threes over chairs in workouts, who knows. If he stays another year, he’s probably a lock for the Top 10.

Bill Walker- He can go back to KSU and be “the guy” for a year, which would make him a possible lottery pick in 2009 unless he is murdered by Frank Martin, Crazy Person. It’s impossible to know how the Beasley Effect changed his game. It could have either made him look much better because of the lack of attention or make him look much worse because touches were limited and he had to force everything just to get his numbers. I’d take him in the 20 to 25 range if I was a playoff team that could take a gamble. Oh, and this doesn't fly in the NBA.

Richard Hendrix- Reminds me of the Cedric Simmons, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone type as a guy who will be drafted too high by a team loaded with guards just because he is best big man available by default. In that case, he should stay! The NBA: Where multi-million dollar contracts given out by default Happens.

Lester Hudson- I love Lester and would love to waste a second-round pick on him.

Shawn James- Coming to a Turkish League near you.

Josh Carter- He’ll be back, although he probably won’t be happy about it, as the best player on a dismal-looking Aggie team next year. He can shoot and uh… shoot.

DeMarre Carroll- No idea.

Leo Lyons- Whatever you say, Leo.

Jerel McNeal- He is the type of guy that will always be undervalued because of his limitations (ball-handling, shooting) despite the potential to be a great role player in the NBA as a lock-down, Bruce Bowen-type defender. There’s no real reason for him to not come back for another year of college, but I’d put him on my NBA bench today.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute- Should probably go back to school but in doing so, would immediately risk breaking every bone in his body.

Jeremy Pargo- Prototypical undersized scoring guard. That used to mean you go undrafted, but in today’s NBA, you’re a valuable bench player. He’s actually very much like his brother Jannero, who is great for the Hornets, except stronger with a bit less range. He’s not going to gain anything from another year of college except maybe some more TV games, but he’s probably a 30-40 range guy that sneaks on a roster.

Trent Plaisted- Chad Ford says he could be a mid-to-late first rounder, which is insane. He’s got good post moves but is way too mechanical to be a consistent scorer and won’t be able to guard 80 percent of the 4s and 5s in the NBA. Some terrible franchise that is mesmerized by 7-footers (uh oh, Memphis has the Lakers pick) will take him if he stays.

Josh Shipp- Probably should have done this after last season. Might want to stay in the draft to avoid the embarrassment of losing his starting job with the Bruins next year.

Ronald Steele- Obviously he needs to go back but if I’m Steele (and particularly Steele’s knee), I am scared shitless of Alabama right now. I just hope people don’t forget how incredibly sick he was as a freshman.

Robert Vaden- Under-sized shooting guards who can only shoot make for great tenth and eleventh guys on NBA rosters. Live the dream Robert.

Last time I gave my 2008 lottery picks in no particular order, this time I am giving the guys on this list that would be lotto picks, barring a disaster, next year if they were to go back. And then also the guys who have already announced they are going back to school who will be lotto picks in 2009. And yes, this is pointless.

Darrell Arthur
Russell Westrbrook
Kosta Koufos
Ryan Anderson
DeAndre Jordan
JJ Hickson
Blake Griffin (going back)
Austin Daye (going back)
Hasheem Thabeet (going back)
Tyler Hansbrough (going back)
Patrick Patterson (going back)

Release From Hibernation: NBA Draft Early Entrants Part 1

Draft time is Hubie time

OK, I haven't been able to post on here lately due to things less interesting than basketball occupying time. So it goes. But on Thursday they announced the final list of early entry candidates for the Draft. For your own sake, here is a summary: EVERYONE declared for the draft. Seriously. There are 69 early entrants to the draft, just from college. Some are no-brainers, others have no brains. Here are those that are important and what their prospects are, in addition to a couple notable returnees. For analysis on Lee Cummard's draft chances, look elsewhere and be sure to put SafeSearch "on" before you Google.

Today we look at those who are in the draft, with an agent. Those that are testing the waters will come at a later date. Those who are coming back will be covered as well, with the possibility of a few thousand words on how dumb Tyler Hansbrough is.

Oh and hopefully I can get some more draft stuff up, because it is my favorite thing of the year.

IN (with agent):
Michael Beasley- I hope Beasley didn't kill a vagrant or impregnate a thirteen-year-old or something, because that is the only way he is not No. 1 in my book. Derrick Rose is a ridiculous freak of a basketball player, but Beasley is probably the most ready NBA ready player of the past three years. He can play 35 minutes at either forward for you right now. His ceiling is lower than Rose, but not by much.

Derrick Rose- Looking at the potential teams for the top pick, only Seattle should consider taking Rose. That being said, I have never seen a combination of size, speed and athleticism in a point guard that Rose has. He will never be a great scorer (like "Top 15 in the league" great) but he has the capability of being great at everything else, especially as a defender. If he did go to those Sonics, I would consider purchasing them.

Jerryd Bayless- The weirdness surrounding that program, plus the coming of Brandon Jennings and his hair made this pretty easy for Bayless. As great as he was in college, I don't know if he's a sure thing for the pros. One thing he does have going for him is all those intangibles that might be meaningless but that GMs love. He plays hard, hurt and has a mean streak in him, which is probably worth a slot or two in the draft order. He is going to be judged against Mayo and Gordon, which should make for some mind-bottingly awesome workouts.

Eric Gordon- Everyone who thinks he should slide is a bit insane. Of the guards near the top of the draft his game is the one that is least suited for college in relation to the NBA. There's no reason for someone like Eric Gordon to not take a buttload of threes in college when his range is roughly 72 feet. I don't think he's an All Star, but, like, isn't he better than someone like Randy Foye, who was drafted pretty high and is a decent pro?

OJ Mayo- No player in this year's draft will be more divisive. Mayo can step into the league and be a very good defender right away and on a team like Minnesota, with a good post player, could be a good scorer right away because teams won't be able to focus on him. He is not a headcase. At all. So don't worry about all that crap about character that ESPN's retarded analysts will freak out about. Like I said, he will be compared to Gordon and Bayless and I think I'd take him over both at this point.

Derrick Caracter- Fat.

Kevin Love- Fat. .... Oh sorry. Love will also be a divisive dude because most fans will expect a player of his profile to be a star but he will not be in the NBA. What he will be is a pretty good secondary player. Think Joakim Noah except someone you don't necessarily want to stab. This is another guy that needs a good fit. It needs to be a team with a somewhat capable scorer on the block so they can go high-low and take advantage of his passing/shooting. And a team with a good point guard because Love is probably the best pick-and-pop player in any of the past couple drafts (note: no one in the lottery fits that description, but I still think he should be a lottery pick). He will not be a low-post scorer or a good defender though. He needs to get rid of that chinstrap.

Brook Lopez- I am in the camp that thinks Lopez should be the No. 3 pick. I have not seen many people at this camp. He's got an NBA-ready frame and while his post moves are non-existent, he's not a stiff. There is no one at the top of the draft that can justify not taking a center, especially one whose weaknesses aren't physical or ability-related, but just a matter of needing more polish.

JaVale McGee- I hate people like JaVale McGee. JaVale McGee is Rafael Araujo. He is Patrick O'Bryant. He is Cedric Simmons. A guy who thinks he can be an NBA player because he is big and can run a bit. McGee is going to be a lottery pick for a team like Indiana or New Jersey, which have no idea how to run a franchise and take him because he is big and he can run a bit. We must stop this menace.

Chris Douglas-Roberts- He will be the quintessential "great role player" from this draft. If he's one of your top three players in the NBA, you suck. If he is your fourth or fifth best player, you are in good shape. The jumper needs work but he's good at everything else and appears to have the mental make-up to embrace a lockdown defender role if needed. He's the type of player that can take an emerging late-lottery team (Golden State, Portland, Sacramento) into the playoffs.

DJ Augustin- I was surprised that Augustin hired an agent, especially because he didn't test the process last year (side note: it is completely idiotic to hire an agent the first time you declare for the draft; conversely it is completely idiotic to not declare at least once during your college career). He's not a top five guard in this draft, which doesn't bode well for his lottery hopes in a league of decision-makers that cream their jeans over size. Maybe he can become a Tony Parker type dude, but his best bet is if a Western Conference team (Houston, Utah) makes him its back-up.

CJ Giles- Bad at basketball.

Davon Jefferson- I've been unable to find a reliable place with info on whether Jefferson signed an agent, but I have to assume there is no way he will return to USC after the weird, up and down season he had last year. Jefferson is EXACTLY the type of risk/reward guy that GMs are terrified of. One of two things will happen with him. A) he will have some crazy workouts and some team will shock everyone by taking him in the late lottery and he will be awful and/or crazy. B) everyone will be scared of his inconsistency and age (he's 21) and he will drop to the bottom of the first round or early second and then be really really good. Nothing else can happen to him.

Robin Lopez- He is Harvey Grant. He is Jason Collins. He is Jarron Collins. He is Frank Stallone,. But he's actually pretty good and would be a real solid bench big man for a playoff team picking in the 20s that needs 20 minutes of defense rebounding and energy. Will be compared to Anderson Varejao by many.

Anthony Randolph- I really liked this guy before the year and saw him play a couple times and continued to like him. That being said, he is NOT a top 10 pick, like many people think he is. Yes he is a better fit for the new, sleaker NBA, but as we have seen in the playoffs, you can't get by on simply athleticism like you can in college. He is a small-ball power forward in the NBA and one that favors comparably to someone like Brandan Wright, who he will be compared to constantly, because he can shoot a little bit. But I can't see him being anything but a huge liability trying to cover other NBA power forwards in the half-court. Another guy that has talent, but will be drafted too high by some awful franchise (Milwaukee) that will squander it.

Brandon Rush- Boring, somewhere in the 20s pick that will be a key contributor for a good team in the future.

And just for the record, here are the 14 guys I think should be in the lottery, in no particular order, with no regard to team needs or anything.

Derrick Rose
Michael Beasley
OJ Mayo
Brook Lopez
Jerryd Bayless
Eric Gordon
Russell Westbrook
Kevin Love
Danillo Gallinari (from other country)
Nicolas Batum (from other country)
Anthony Randolph
Davon Jefferson
Chris Douglas-Roberts
Darrell Arthur

Your NCAA Championship Gamelog

I haven't been around these here parts in awhile, a real job that doesn't revolve around making jokes about Billy Packer's bladder control will do that to you, but I felt I needed to dust off the old blog and put some closure on the season. Here's your gamelog, I vow to return for the wonderous, inanely speculative splendor that is the NBA Draft. Probably.

1st Half
20:00- Nantz does all the intros and what nots. Why does every analyst start sentences with "when you look at" nowadays? I am already looking right at them, why does your pending analysis assume I am looking elsewhere?

19:43- Dorsey scores and an angel gets its wings, which are tattooed.

19:04- Brandon Rush nearly dies for the sake of a dunk. He is an American hero. Packer compares him to "the great Darnell Valentine," mainly because he is 112 years old.

17:57- Arthur bangs one on Dorsey and immediately apologizes.

16:50- Slop abounds, which always seems to happen for the first ten minutes of every title game.

16:39- OK, let's get this out of the way. Derrick Rose is the MOP of this tourney for me, win or lose. He is the best point guard prospect since Chris Paul (obviously) and will be a freaking star in the pros. He is NOT the No. 1 pick in the draft. Moving along...

15:36- 9-7 Kansas. Sasha Kaun receives far too many alley oops for a Russian. Isn't the United Nations doing something to prevent this?

13:44- 11-11. NBADraft.net has CDR at No. 18 in the '08 Draft. What exactly does he not do well? There is nothing.

13:00- 13-11 Memphis. Case in point, the absurd 12-foot push shot he just hit. He's even good at looking weird.

12:17- 13-11 Memphis. It's Ed Hightower's world and we're all just living in it.

11:33- 13-13. OK, now that it appears they are showing new ads for this game, here's a quick rundown of the March Madness commercials, each of which I have seen 13,000 times. Good: Sven. Bad: Everything else. That was fun.

10:53- 15-13 Kansas. Brandon Rush is another guy who will be drafted way too late, which just goes to show, it doesn't pay to play a lot of college basketball. If Brandon Rush was some mysterious swingman with lots of athleticism and without three years of college ball for a great team under his belt (like he was before busting his knee last year), he'd be a top 10 pick. Now, because he's merely "solid" he'll drop to around 20.

9:38- 18-13 Kansas. Cole Aldrich comes in, and I will admit he was incredible in the semis. But let's just say, for a seldom-used freshman, Joey Dorsey is not the same opponent as Tyler Hansbrough. And that dunk, should quickly allow Cole to realize that.

8:01- 22-18 Kansas. Packer is incredulous that Rose doesn't shoot enough and he gets two quick assists. Packer changes his tune and I am rather pleased.

7:00- 24-23 Kansas. Roy Williams doesn't give a shit about the University of North Carolina.

6:02- 26-26. This has settled into an extremely entertaining, high-quality game. Now back to less important matters.

4:49. 28-28. CDR is pooping upon everyone.

3:52. 28-28. Amendment to the commercial roundup from earlier. Good: Sven, Nike Training Saul Williams thing that makes me want to light things on fire. Bad: Everything else.

2:30. 31-28 Kansas. Nantz: "Where is Derrick Rose?" Well Jim, he's right there in front of you playing, you know, point guard. Oh and look, there he is at the top of a mock draft, ahead of Michael Beasley. That's where he is. It appears this will be Packer's "Thing to Be Cantankerous About" this year. A freshman point guard not jacking up 25 shots in a national title game against one of the nation's best defensive backcourts.

Half. 33-28 Kansas. Good half, high energy, very athletic, pretty well played besides the beginning, lots of Rush/Arthur, lots of CDR, fair amount of Rose, not enough for Packer, no Sven.

2nd Half
18:12- 36-35 Memphis. Game on, as the venerable Wayne Campbell once said.

16:30- 38-37 Memphis. Rose alley oops it to Dorsey, Packer is appalled he wouldn't alley oop it to himself.

15:13- 39-38 Kansas. Penny Hardaway is in the stands. Zero NBA teams play tonight. Those are not two related statements.

13:55- 39-38 Kansas. Anderson missed two free throws. See!? SEE!?

12:07- 43-42 Kansas. If Rose had dunked that, we would all cease to exist.

11:00- 45-42 Kansas. The more I watch this game, the more I think every player in it will find an NBA roster... except Pierre Niles.... then again, Oliver Miller made it so....

10:30- 45-44 Kansas. Rose with another pretty ridiculous finish and Packer says nothing. Kansas is basically doing everything it can to contain Rose, he is playing completely within himself and yet he is getting ripped because he doesn't have 25 points. No snark there, it just bugs me.

8:38- 47-46 Kansas. Nantz: "Both men met their wives in Lawrence, Kansas... of all places." Well, it's a better place to meet women than Augusta National so I'm not sure why you are throwing stones Green Jacket Boy.

8:24- 49-47 Memphis. This game will mark the triumphant end to The Year Of The Junk Defense.

7:36- 51-47 Memphis. Rose does something gross again and he is once again the second coming of Christ, or at least Jack Nicklaus, to Nantz and Packer.

5:10- 54-47 Memphis. Dear lord Mr. Rose.

4:45- 54-49 Memphis. Sherron Collins scores and Nantz announces that he pounded his chest and said let's go. Only Nantz would find this noteworthy.

4:04- 57-49 Memphis. Rose hits a fadeaway banked three at the shot clock buzzer. There goes your One Shining Moment right there folks. And probably your NCAA Tournament. And probably Billy Packer's bladder.

3:49- 56-49 Memphis. Check that, it was a two-pointer. One Shining Moment does not discriminate though.

3:10- 56-49 Memphis. Kansas plays man-to-man defense all year long, were one of the best defensive teams in the country, played it the whole first half to a five-point lead and are now inexplicably throwing some weird zones out there. Are you sure you want to pay Bill Self $60 million and all the cows he can slaughter Oklahoma State?

2:12- 60-51 Memphis. I really hope the Tigers don't make all these free throws, not because I want them to lose, but because Calipari won't stop talking about it for somewhere between four and 987 months.

1:44- 60-56 Memphis. Steal, three, got-a-game-again.

1:30- 62-56 Memphis. Two free throws by CDR. OK Kansas, you have held Memphis to 60 points for 38+ minutes and yet you feel the best way to stop them from scoring is to give them two uncontested 15-foot shots rather than play defense straight up. Again, OK State, you're gonna give this man a jillion dollars? And an unlimited supply of freshly processed goat cheese?

0:44- 62-60 Memphis. And we've got a title game folks. Feels good, doesn't it?

0:16- 62-60 Memphis. Anyone get a read on the nutritional facts on CDR's arm? How many grams of sodium does he contain? Oh, I suppose this in intense or something.

0:12- 62-60 Memphis. Somehow, on this Earth, Kansas doesn't get a rebound after CDR misses two free throws. Where is Sasha Kaun when you need him?

0:00- 63-63. Holy crap. How is Gus Johnson not doing this game? What a freaking shot. Foul shots Calipari, you son of a B, foul shots! Best title game of my lifetime (besides when Syracuse won).

OVERTIME
4:30- 65-63 Kansas. Sherron Collins is playing really, very well tonight. He's a star next year. Sorry, when a gamelog predicated on making fun of things in a shallow, understated manner turns into an insanely entertaining game, it's hard to stay in character.

3:38- 67-63 Kansas. If Arthur and Collins stay, this team will be right back here again. Well, if Self is at Oklahoma State, of course.

2:24- 69-65 Kansas. Two Memphis foul shots. They make 'em when they count!

0:57- 71-68 Kansas. Seriously, what a game. That is all.

0:45- 73-68 Kansas. Cal elects to foul even though they could have gotten it back with 10+ seconds. Chalmers makes two and it appears Calipari, in the end will have out-incompetented Self.

0:00- 75-68 Kansas. And Kansas is your improbable, unbelievable champ this season. Nantz: "Rock, Chalk, Championship." He came up with this roughly three months ago. It was an amazing finish to a fairly unamazing season of very poor basketball at times. But like it always does, March Madness never fails to disappoint, no matter the circumstances. So thanks Davidson, Western Kentucky, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Mario Chalmers and, why not, Kansas. I might not have picked the best year to unload my thoughts and passion for college hoops onto the Intertubes, but, as I expected, it's certainly better than not writing about college basketball.

So One Shining Moment and all that crap, let's wrap this baby up. It's been real.

Hooray For Links! NCAA Tournament Edition

I was never a big proponent of doing link dumps and the like on this site because, well, it didn't really make sense to me. Why would I simply reproduce things that are already out there? But as I did my own scouring of the Intertubes for college hoops content, I realized there was just too much quality (and, at times, utterly awful) stuff out there to simply leave untapped. So I give you Hooray For Links! which should appear at completely random intervals. Because without links, it's not really a blog, it's just a place to put thoughts I might not want to forget.

I haven't written all that much about the Tournament, except for some wildly outstanding previews; I prefer to just kinda enjoy it as a spectator and avoid consuming the enormous mass of regurgitated storylines and feature ideas. This year's March Madness has been tremendous, something I was worried about after the mediocrity that highlighted the regular season and the general lack of interesting match-ups. I thought this year would be an event that would bore for the first two rounds and then really shine in the regionals, after all the craptastic teams were eliminated. Well the second part of that has came true -- these games this weekend should be awesome -- without the boring part. So here are some links, many of which are preview items as the content produced about the actual Tournament is pretty boring.

Them links be after the jump.
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- Given their first meeting and its outcome, watching the diverging paths of North Carolina and Duke in the NCAAs was fascinating. The Heels have been utterly dominant. Duke was awful, would've been the victim of the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history if not for Gerald Henderson playing like a man, were destroyed in the second half against West Virginia and are home now. I'd like to think this moment, and this moment alone, was the turning point for both teams. Revel in its beauty.


- This CBS Sportsline column about Tyler Hansbrough from Mike Freeman was pretty bold, pretty controversial (read the comments) and difficult to argue with. I'm not going to go to deep into it; he basically feels there is a double standard perpetuated by the media regarding highly visible white players in college hoops. The giveaway line is : "America loves a tough, white guy." He is right in that regard but doesn't quite make a full argument or offer a lot to support the hypothesis. Freeman is a fellow University of Delaware alum so in interest of full disclosure, I'm probably an apologist for a fellow Blue Hen. But it's an interesting read.

- Dan Steinberg at the fabulous (heterosexually fabulous, that is) DC Sports Bog with a great first-hand account of storming the floor following American's Patriot League Championship (which seems like it happened year ago).

- Everyone was all fussy about the Selection Committee matching up mid-major with each other, including me, and no one has been better at chronicling the view from the little guys than ESPN.com contributor and Mid-Majority editor Kyle Whelliston, Lord of the Mid-Majors. After the field was announced he penned this great column on the traveshammockery that is Selection Sunday. In light of the runs made by mid-majors like Western Kentucky and Davidson, which has hopefully validated the many cries of foul directed toward the Committee for seemingly wanting the BCS schools to conduct their business without losing face, Whelliston has renamed his site The WKU-Majority. Rather than link all of Whelliston's great posts from the weekend -- it would require many hyperlinks and possible carpel tunnel -- just go to his site and read it all. After a year where the big boys reigned, the mid-majors are back and have found a place at the top. George Mason was no fluke, watch out world.

- Basketball Prospectus, in its first year on the job, offered this season's best tournament preview. And to follow it up, they have been outstanding in their tourney coverage. So go there, read it, love it, live a better life.

- For someone with the rare and unfortunate combination of being a basketball addict and former English major in college, this piece on how Ernest Hemingway would analyze some of the top NCAA contenders was absolutely fantastic.

- I enjoyed this column from Andy Katz on Kevin Love and OJ Mayo, even if it was approximately the 8 millionth of its kind and basically jinxed the hell out of USC. Hopefully we can put all those preconceived notions about the two and the completely false "antithesis" they represent.

- Alright so one more Kyle Whelliston item to pass along. Last one, I swear, but the guy is doing great work over there. With my brackets in complete shambles, as I predicted, I enjoyed this column asking readers to not fill out a bracket this year. I wish I could do this. Unfortunately my body and mind will not allow me to abstain from Bracketering; I must have a chemical imbalance. But with my picks basically ruined, I have enjoyed this year's tournament even without having any real live reason to root for a specific. I've become a liberated fan, something that the boys at FreeDarko talk a lot about; I am simply an enjoyer of good basketball. And this makes very much sense. The reason I love the NCAA Tournament is not because I love winning office pools, it's because I love basketball. A lot. So, as Whelliston argues, by filling out a bracket you are simply celebrating prognostication, right and wrongness. Not basketball, which is what this thing is all about. Just because there is no prospect of winning money off of them, doesn't mean you can't like a team or have interest in a game.

- There certainly are some curious trends the Selection Committee seems to be perpetuating, and Gary Parrish is there to point them out and call out the Committee. For someone who is unusually Freshman-centric, I also enjoyed this column he wrote on young bucks and their big tourney roles.

- This is why I enjoy Bill Raftery.

- This was in Sports Illustrated's March Madness preview issue, a great look from Grant Wahl at how size dictates tournament success, especially in regards to this year's field, which contains a lot of small-ball teams, which follows the trend recently seen in the NBA. Looking at the teams left, many of the remaining top seeds at least has respectable post players, but squads like Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia and Memphis will be operating without a great deal of size. Should be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out (especially with Texas vs. Stanford; the best Sweet 16 match-up this year).

- Further proof that no matter how much Bill Simmons knows about the NBA (which is a whole lot), he should not write about college basketball.

- No No. 1 seed was really even tested in the first round this year, but there is really nothing better than when one gets scared. Here is a run-down of the closest calls in history.

- The world will never be the same. There is no God.

- Very good piece analyzing CBS' first weekend coverage of the NCAAs (even if it praises Seth Davis for non-comedic excellence). I thought it was pretty good coverage as well, except that Gus Johnson had all blowouts and Tim Brando was nearly comatose during that insane Friday in Tampa. Given all the tooting being done for Davis taking Davidson, I would like to point out that I said Belmont would give Duke all they could handle in the first round. I may be near last place in all my pools, but I will hold onto this for years.

- And here, an example of why local nightly news will not bring upon the end of civilization, contrary to popular belief:

San Diego Does Not Care For Your 7-3 Players, Gonzaga, St. Mary's

Well this is shaping up to be a considerably better day than yesterday. Nearly an hour after all the other afternoon games ended, the No. 13 Toreros (real nickname) of San Diego in the West region have knocked off Connecticut. It's the biggest upset of the tourney, topping Whale's Vagina's next opponent, No. 12 Western Kentucky, and its buzzer-beater over Drake.

The Huskies were without AJ Price for most of the game but that really shouldn't sour this win. USD played most of the second half without its star center Gyno Pomare, who despite his hygienically unfortunate first name, made Hasheem Thabeet his bitch for most of today. After missed free throws let the Huskies send it to OT, Pomare fouled out and the Toreros other best player pulled a groin and then fouled out himself, but not before hitting a massive shot down the stretch. Down one after the Huskies continued to make free throws while San Diego could not, the Toreros third option, De'Jon Jackson, hit a really tough fall away over Stanley Robinson to win the game. San Diego, which played in the WCC shadows of Gonzaga and Saint Mary's, have now beaten both en route to a conference title that got them into this tournament against all odds and, to top it off, outlasted both perennial league powerhouses in the Big Dance. Great stuff.

So yeah, the Madness is taking shape and that region has opened up for UCLA even more. And those fortunate enough to have tickets to that Tampa site should be rather pleased (even though the crowd, besides the Drake fans, was pretty bad and the announcing crew sounded like they wanted to get the hell out of there before the media buffet ran out).

And lastly, good for San Diego freshman Rob Jones. Jones was a monster today, scoring 14 points including a big shot over Thabeet late in OT and a circus shot, possibly the toughest of the tournament, late in regulation. I did a post earlier on the season on the amazing story by Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated on Jones, who is the grandson of crazed cult leader and mass suicide organizer Jim Jones. Jones' father, Jim Jr., would have been involved in that mass suicide if not for a basketball game that had him off the Jonestown plantation at the time. He hated the game because of all the guilt but recently learned to love it, when he reluctantly allowed Rob to pursue the game he loved and saw the success he could bring to a shamed family name. So as much as that upset means to everyone around that program, it's gotta mean a lot more for the Jones family.

Mid-Major Basketball Is Better Than Your Basketball

You are so getting free Skittles in school Monday, Steph

I didn't write anything about yesterday's games, partially because they were boring (besides Belmont-Duke of course), but mostly because I was not working and thus, drunk. But today I can be silent no more. While many complained about the mid-majors being paired up with each other in some kind of capitalistic basketball cannibalism by the Selection Committee, I am very happy that Gonzaga and Davidson played each other and that Drake and Western Kentucky played each other. Very happy. (Even if The Drake was heartbroken).

Those four squads, although only two of them were able to advance, treated this country to two of the best first round games in recent memory and hopefully showed the Selection Committee and CBS execs that when mid-majors play, more people should watch. Both games were back and forth, up and down, long range bombing celebrations of the little guy; a style that even Tennessee tried to impose on American, but which the former No. 1 was unable to perfect. These four teams not only played like the big boys and provided excitement that exceeded any similar-seeded match-ups between BCS schools, but they did for this country what they have been doing for hardcore hoops fans all season. Plant that seed of wonderment: "I wonder what they could do against a real team?"

And while the wording of that question is problematic in itself, it probably doesn't matter. If those two games and any that come after it make the Selection Committee and the TV networks realize that these teams can play with the big boys, provide moments like the big boys, and, unfortunately most importantly, bring in viewers like the big boys, well then the respect will have to follow. (Davidson and Western Kentucky beating their probable opponents, Georgetown and UConn, respectively, would help too.)

So all hail Courtney Lee, Adam Emmenecker, all of those damn Korvers and of course, the 8th grader Stephen Curry, 40-point scorer, slayer of Bulldogs, spelling bee champion. They are the new, unfamiliar faces of March Madness and they have officially kicked of this NCAA Tournament. Now when does that Butler-South Alabama game start?