ZoomSlowik

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 1, 2011 -> 12:54 PM) Well, first of all, it's Notre Dame - it's really not that difficult to recruit there considering they are a historic program that offers an outstanding education. They don't exactly have a tough time getting elite athletes to go play at Florida.

I'll take a different route in this argument: if Weis struggled relating to players and their familes, it sure as hell didn't show in the recruiting classes. In his time at ND (not counting the '05 class when he was hired late, including 2010 since that was mostly with him recruiting), the Irish signed 7 five-star recruits and 57 four-star recuits. A lot of them didn't pan out, especially on defense, but there were still plenty of highly regarded players in South Bend.

Looks like another one of those years for Northwestern. They scored fairly well against a tough Purdue defense, but they gave up WAY too many open looks, especially to Moore. They really need to win one of their next two (vs MSU, @ Illinois), which won't be easy.

I don't know what to think about the Bulls yet. It wouldn't surprise me if they had a competitive series with the top-3 and it wouldn't really surprise me if they struggled to beat New York or Atlanta. Boozer against a small-ball forward like Chandler or Smith seems like a nightmare waiting to happen and Rose might make Felton look like Isaiah Thomas. I'd really feel A LOT better if they got a legitimate 2-guard, someone that can spread the floor a bit more and create their own shot on occasion so everything doesn't depend on Rose.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 30, 2010 -> 02:38 PM) BUT...despite Rose regularly getting burned on the outside...and despite the Bulls playing without Carlos Boozer...the Bulls were still winning those tough games, on the road. They're getting better and better. They're not going to win a championship right now...but at the end of the season...I don't know where this team will be. Boozer and Noah both played in the OKC and LA games. I'm not saying the Bulls aren't a solid team, they just need to play a pretty awesome series to beat Boston or Miami (possibly Orlando too, who they often struggle against).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 30, 2010 -> 01:54 PM) The Bulls are getting better and better at clamping down on the perimeter, and at least for the last month, we haven't had Rose being regularly exploited like he was in November. It's a little easier when your recent schedule has been filled with a lot of non-playoff teams. 10 of their 15 December games came against teams that really shouldn't give them any trouble. Orlando, Boston and New York all shot comfortably over 50% in victories against them in December matchups. The Bulls did beat OKC and LA, but the Thunder have no big men and shot 35% in that game and LA really only has one good perimeter player.

Maybe I'm weird, but I thought there was talk about how Tyrus was the Bulls' "Lebron stopper". They certainly didn't have one in the playoffs last season as Lebron went for 32-9-8 against them while shooting 57% from the floor. I definitely wouldn't say the Bulls are a "good" matchup for the Heat because as someone said previously, they can't stop Wade or Lebron. Whomever the other perimeter player is will also likely get a ton of open looks from outside with Rose guarding them. Their two studs shouldn't have to work too hard covering the Bogans/Brewer/Korver trio and Deng either (they'll put Arroyo/Chalmers on Rose for as long as possible). Boozer will also probably cause them some problems with his defense because he doesn't have the agility to cover Bosh and is a poor help defender. They do have an edge on the glass, but Boozer and Noah will have to obliterate them to compensate for Miami's edge on wings. Also, Rose probably has to out-play at least one of Wade and Lebron. They will lose any games where he doesn't go for like 25-8. The Bulls only have one shot-creator while the Heat have two.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Dec 22, 2010 -> 03:20 PM) St. John's is likely not a middle of the pack Big East team. They have wins over NU and Arizona State with losses to St. Bonaventure, St. Mary's and Fordham. St. Mary's is fine, but St. John's will get smashed in the Big East. The loss also proves to me that Northwestern isn't capable of going 11-7 in the Big Ten. If you can't beat St. John's, there aren't 11 wins in the Big Ten to be had. Even then, with an awful OOC resume, 11-7 only puts them on the bubble anyway. St. John's isn't the best team in the Big East and they're not the worst. They're probably somewhere in the 8 to 12 range in the #1 or #2 rated confence and you essentially played them on the road (neutral site my ass). As Fathom said, you can't judge a team on one game (realistically more like half a game as they were up 10 in the first half and lead at halftime) and it wasn't even the worst loss among the non-bottom feeders in the Big Ten this week. It won't be their last bad game, but they're also not going to shoot like 30% in the second half every game, or have everyone not named John Shurna shoot 34% for the entire game, or have an opponent have a 70% shooting half every game (yeah, their D was bad, but come on). Pretty much everything went wrong for NU outside of Shurna having a bad game and they were still within 5 or 6 points until things got worse with 7 minutes to go. And if you go 11-7 in the #1 or #2 rated conference, you're not a bubble team even if your OOC schedule sucks. That would mean at least 3 wins against the RPI top-50 most likely (4 if you assume they blow a game to someone like Indiana or Penn State), possibly with a couple of top-25's. Outside of OSU, everyone in the conference has had at least one bad game. It happens, move on and concentrate on getting off to a good start in the Big Ten. They'll have four shots at adding a quality win or two in the first five games, that stretch will give you a much better idea of their chances.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Dec 22, 2010 -> 07:51 AM) The Johnnies are not a bad team this year. They have a good shot at being a tourney team themselves. I think the Big East is probably too deep for that, but if I heard correctly their RPI going into this game was 58. That's certainly not a killer. NU still needs at least 10 conference wins in my opinion just like they did before last night, preferrably 11 with at least one win in the conference tournament. I'm assuming they'll blow at least one game they shouldn't, so that would mean taking at least two of their five against Wisconsin, Purdue and Minnesota and ideally stealing one of five from the top-3 of OSU/MSU/U of I. I think it's doable if they play well, but not if they play like they did in the second half last night.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Dec 21, 2010 -> 11:24 PM) Northwestern just took themselves out of tournament consideration. Can't lose to St. John's when your best OOC win is Georgia Tech. Let's not go crazy here. Losing to a middle of the pack Big East team because they played their worst half of the year isn't going to kill them. Everything still depends on what happens in conference play.

The CBA doesn't expire until early July, so yeah, there would still be a draft. I would imagine a fair number of guys would still declare. The guys that are still top-5 locks, the guys that are too dumb to keep their eligibility for an extra two semesters, the guys that are desperate to get whatever money they can as soon as possible, and a handful of guys that aren't likely to see their stock increase for some reason (lack of ideal size or athleticism mostly).

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 02:57 PM) Disagree. The Bulls match up very well against the heat. They wont be able to defend Boozer and Rose whatsoever. Noah cancels out Bosh completely. I think the Bulls have a VERY good shot in the east. I seriously doubt it works out like that. Noah would probably guard whichever s***ty center Miami has in the game so he can help off them on Wade/Lebron drives. That means Boozer probably guards Bosh most of the time, which he doesn't have nearly the foot speed to accomplish. As a Bulls' fan, there would be several things that would worry me: 1) The Heat going with a Wade/Miller/Lebron/Bosh/s***ty Center X combination. The Bulls backcourt is bad defensively. They would have to choose between Rose giving Miller wide open 3's the whole game or Wade blowing by him repeatedly and potentially getting Rose in foul trouble. 2) Whomever the Bogans/Brewer/Korver trio guards is probably going to go off, and if Rose is guarding Arroyo that's probably Wade. 3) Boozer isn't exactly quick or a good help defender. He'll do some damage on the board, but chasing around Bosh or having to help on drives is going to end poorly. 4) Is Deng really going to be a factor matched up against Lebron all series? I kind of doubt it. The Bulls could definitely take advantage on the glass and Boozer should get a lot of good shots, but everything else pretty much falls on Rose. If he's great they might have a shot, but Arroyo and Chalmers aren't total scrubs defensively and Wade will probably guard him at times.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 02:03 PM) I agree that their interior defense is a question but they are currently 2nd in the NBA in defense so even that issue may be a little overblown. I don't think their perimeter D is much of an issue at all, so that helps the overall numbers a bit. So does competition to some extent. They've been kind of hit or miss inside, holding their own some games but allowing some HUGE lines against them from big men this year. (Millsap putting up 46 on them was easily the most memorable, and Okafor going 12-13 from the floor was just as dominant). Will they be able to stop Gasol/Bynum/Odom from destroying them 4 or 5 times in a series? What about Dwight? Noah and Boozer? KG? I just don't know. I think Dampier and Anthony can be serviceable and Ilgauskas can handle the more slow-footed big men, but against the elite big men I think it could definitely hurt them a lot. Of course the other team also has to prevent Wade and Lebron from putting up some nutty numbers, so it might even out.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 01:26 PM) I noticed I didn't specify clearly, what I meant was quality of depth. The majority of those teams had pretty good players coming off of their bench that could fill a void left by one of their starters if any had to come out of the game for whatever reason. The Heat for the most part, have nothing close to that with the Juwan Howard's, Eddie House's and Joel Anthony's coming off of the bench. Now, it will change positively with Miller returning but I don't see how 3 players of that caliber can survive with Mike Miller and literally a bunch of fill-ins Most teams are 4 or 5 good players and a bunch of fill-ins. The difference between the Celtics and Lakers and the rest of the league isn't guys like Glen Davis, Nate Robinson and Shannon Brown, it's that they both have 4 All-Star level players (when Bynum is healthy). Their role players certainly can help here and there, but If something happens to Kobe, Gasol or any of Boston's big 4, there is going to be a significant drop off in the caliber of the team. Miller, Jones, Anthony and Dampier is easily enough off the bench to succeed. Whether they play good enough interior defense as a team is a far bigger issue in determining their fate.

You're not really going to know anything until the playoffs because the rotations are so different. A lot of your bench players that eat some valuable minutes now are either not going to play regularly or will see a drop in minutes. This is especially true with the Heat since Lebron, Wade and Bosh will all probably be around 40 MPG instead of 37, 36 and 35 respectively (the Bulls' key guys already play around 37-39 MPG). Guys like Watson and Asik are rarely going to see the floor for the Bulls and one of Bogans, Brewer and Korver will probably see a bit of a drop as well for the Bulls; for the Heat House, Howard and Chalmers will collect a lot of splinters and James Jones will probably see a lot less time. The playoffs becomes a battle of their top-8 vs your top-8 (roughly). That kind of setup usually favors the team with the better individual players. Can Rose, Noah, Boozer and Deng play to a draw or beat the Heat's top-4 (obviously including Miller once he's healthy) over the course of a 7-game series? That remains to be seen.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 12:00 PM) I'm surprised there's not more excitement on this forum for this dunk. The guy being dunked on is Tyrus Thomas. I've always liked this one more (yeah, it's old). The parallels between Swift and Thomas make me laugh.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 09:50 PM) Bah, the difference there is...the guys we have are playing well below where one would expect based on their career points. It'd be like we signed Matsui last year, and he put up the same numbers Kotsay did. You couldn't have seen that one coming. What exactly were you expecting from a 31 year old on his sixth team in eight years (with two stops in Orlando) that has never posted a PER above 11 and a wing that can't shoot and was dumped by two different teams since the start of last season?

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 04:59 PM) I don't think the Bulls' depth is at Orlando or Boston's level just yet. Gibson is a very good backup PF, Asik's still got a way to go, Korver's a decent scorer off the bench, and Brewer will eventually take over for Bogans at the 2. Miami's probably only going to use an 8 man rotation or thereabouts come playoff time regardless I would have thought. No one goes more than 8 or 9 deep in the playoffs with any kind of regularity. The Lakers and Celtics both had only 8 guys that played in every playoff game last year (well, KG and Perkins both missed one, you get the point), and none of the other guys averaged more than 8 minutes when they did play. Even the Magic only played 9 last year. Depth isn't close to their biggest issue right now. Ahead of that would be highly suspect rebounding/post-D (unlikely to improve drastically), no other remotely decent scoring options outside of their top-3 (Miller should eventually help that), and Lebron and Wade both shooting well below their career norms and posting high turnover rates (I would think it'll eventually get better, if not they're totally screwed).

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 03:25 PM) Meh, I could see both sides of the argument, but this opens up flood gates. Just let your parents handle the money and you'll be fine. I wouldn't go that far. If they had any evidence that money changed hands or that there were discussions of pay-for-play that involved Auburn, he'd have probably been ineligible.

That'd be pretty crazy if Washington took Carter AND Lewis, that's an absurd $38 mil in out-going salary. Even if they got Arenas and Blatche, the Wiz would need to add like $7.5 mil in salary, which either means Hinrich or Yi and someone like Al Thornton or Nick Young would be going to Orlando as well. I'm not sure how much sense it makes for Orlando to move both either since that'd put a fairly major dent in their outside shooting.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 07:27 PM) GT cant handle Crawford at all. NW can give you absolute fits if you arent ready for them. You can't leave Shurna, Thompson or Crawford alone behind the arc, which makes them very tough to guard. They've combined for 39 3's in 5 games and all are shooting at least 40% (Shurna is at 66.7% ). Their defense on the other hand...

Dear college basketball refs, There is no quota for fouls called in a college basketball game. If neither team reaches the bonus in the first half, that doesn't mean that both teams have to shoot 20 free throws in the second half. The only thing it accomplishes is killing the pace and continuity of the game. No one wants to see both teams repeatedly march to the free throw line, so learn to swallow the whistle a bit. sincerely, An annoyed fan

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 29, 2010 -> 09:37 PM) Then why should there even be any teams outside of the BCS conferences? Why not just have 1 division with just BCS conferences and another with the rest of the teams? Wait 10 years and we might be there.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 29, 2010 -> 09:18 PM) No, the point is that Boise built a program over time, just as Gonzaga did in basketball, that is producing better players, that is attracting top-tier recruits, that is proving itself more and more on a national stage. Since the win over Oklahoma several years ago, they have really taken big steps to improve their program. And when was the last time Gonzaga made the Final Four? I hate it when people try to compare football to basketball because it's not the same thing. 65 (soon to be 68) teams make the tournament every year and get their shot to win it all. Some of the non-power conference teams win a game or two, but they rarely make the Final Four and it's exceedingly rare for them to win it all (UNLV in 1990 being the exception in recent history when they had multiple NBA players). Only two teams have a shot to win a title in college football, so the benchmark for getting that shot is an awful lot higher. Football is also a completely different sport, there are far more players involved in the equation. One or two great player that slipped through the cracks can make a huge difference in the result (ie Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack at Butler last year). The same is not true in football. If there were a playoff, I'd have no problem giving them a shot to win it all. It's an entirely different story to pick them over multiple 11-1 teams that faced an entirely different schedule in a one-game playoff for the national championship.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 29, 2010 -> 09:09 PM) So now their record against BCS teams is irrelevant too, because those are the only games in which they care about. Give me a f***ing break, guys. When you conveniently ignore it when they lose games, yes, it is. They went 42-7 from 2002-2005, but those losses against the BCS schools in that stretch somehow aren't relevant in this discussion apparently. And my point was not that it doesn't matter. My point is that if they go even 6-2 in a major conference they're nowhere near the national championship game and probably out at 7-1 too.