CBB Thread

New season starts tonight.

Excited about Alabama's future. Avery Johnson got two huge recruits yesterday.

Yeah, he's really doing some things down there. Some other big SEC recruits as well. Really hope the league picks it up in the next couple years. They have the coaching and the recruiting to do it.

Interesting Champion's Classic this year. Kentucky has a long ways to go but the early results are promising. I love our guards. The questions will be offensive production on the interior and shooting. For the former, Bam looks and plays like Dwight Howard, which means lots of athleticism but little finesse. He also is going to have trouble staying on the court because of foul trouble. Humphries is much better and has a soft touch, so I'm hoping he will chip in on that end as well. The shooting is more troubling, as Monk is not going to go 7-11 in most games. Hopefully Willis remembers how to rebound and defend so he can stay out on the court enough to make some shots. Otherwise, consistent outside shooting is going to be hard to come by, which is crucial for the college game.

Overall though I love the make-up of this team and the players are all exciting and seem to fit together well. I don't think it's Cal's best class, but it's up there in the next tier behind the AD-MKG group and the KAT-Lyes-Booker-Ulis group.

Duke is going to be filthy if they are ever healthy. Their problem is lead guard - Frank Jackson just doesn't seem to have it yet. They don't need somebody to be a hero, they just need consistency. Kentucky won the title with Marquis Teague basically being a steady hand and hitting a couple clutch shots, so it's not impossible.. but in March, guards are king.

I have more thoughts, but I don't know if anyone else still cares about college basketball around these parts so I'll stop there.
 
Sure looks like Illinois will be in the market for a new coach after the season. Too much talent/experience on this team to be losing to Winthrop/getting blown out by West Virginia and Florida St.
 
Sure looks like Illinois will be in the market for a new coach after the season. Too much talent/experience on this team to be losing to Winthrop/getting blown out by West Virginia and Florida St.

A couple of months later and a nice run here at the end (and an absolute killer of a loss yesterday at Rutgers) hasn't changed my opinion on the matter. Time for a change.
 
And boom Groce has been fired.

It simply had to happen. I've got a lot of faith in the AD Whitman to bring in a high caliber coach (Lovie was huge for the football program) and it's been reported that he has a good chunk of change to spend. Top job on the market this year, unless Indiana opens up.
 
Ah man, Bama just short of pulling the upset today. NIT again this is year.

With the recruiting class coming in, I'm excited for the future of Alabama Basketball.
 
My NCAA Tournament predictions:

Double digit seeds winning in the first round:
Marquette over South Carolina
Nevada over Iowa State
Wichita State over Dayton
Middle Tennessee over Minnesota
Florida Gulf Coast over Florida State

Middle Tennessee and FGC to the Sweet 16

Final Four:
Duke over Arizona and Kansas over North Carolina
National Championship:
Duke over Kansas
 
My NCAA Tournament predictions:

Double digit seeds winning in the first round:
Marquette over South Carolina
Nevada over Iowa State
Wichita State over Dayton
Middle Tennessee over Minnesota
Florida Gulf Coast over Florida State

Middle Tennessee and FGC to the Sweet 16

Final Four:
Duke over Arizona and Kansas over North Carolina
National Championship:
Duke over Kansas

I've got the same Final Four, but with Duke-UNC in the title game. Prior to the brackets I would have predicted a Nova-Duke matchup, but the committee had other thoughts (Why put the #1 team in the nation in the same region as the hottest team/team with the most talent?)

Only real upsets I see are UNC Wilmington over Virginia and Middle Tennessee over Minnesota. Wichita St over Kentucky is a possibility in the 2nd round and I've got Notre Dame upsetting Gonzaga in the Sweet 16.
 
Illini go with Brad Underwood from OK St.

A little underwhelmed at first - was hoping for a bigger name - but as I've read more and more about this guy and his style/record, I'm very optimistic about where this program is headed. Add to the fact that he appears to be keeping the current interim coach/lead recruiter from the past staff and this team could find itself with a solid seed in the tourney come next season.
 
Illini go with Brad Underwood from OK St.

A little underwhelmed at first - was hoping for a bigger name - but as I've read more and more about this guy and his style/record, I'm very optimistic about where this program is headed. Add to the fact that he appears to be keeping the current interim coach/lead recruiter from the past staff and this team could find itself with a solid seed in the tourney come next season.

He will learn or at least he better very quickly. You have to play defense in this conference. This isn't the finesse Big 12.
 
Three SEC teams in the Sweet 16
impressed.gif
 
Illini go with Brad Underwood from OK St.

A little underwhelmed at first - was hoping for a bigger name - but as I've read more and more about this guy and his style/record, I'm very optimistic about where this program is headed. Add to the fact that he appears to be keeping the current interim coach/lead recruiter from the past staff and this team could find itself with a solid seed in the tourney come next season.

Underwood is a hell of a coach
 
Back
Top