CDTN Blast From The Past: James White

One of our favorite players when he was at Cincy and the L didn't quite work out for him. Despite the NBA not realizing who to invite last year to the dunk contest, James White didn't get mad. He just soaked up the sun in San Antonio won a championship ring and bounced. He now is playing in Turkey but don't think less of him for it. The boy can dunk and is the best dunker in the world. Watch this video and see why James White is the best dunker in the world. He is like a fine wine he gets better with age. Also shout out to Khalid El-Amin who must be the Damon Jones of Turkey Basketball leagues (Always present at the dunk contest).

Ten Coaches who will be in Different Positions this time Next Year

1. Tony Bennett: I am worried that by the time I finish this sentence Bennett will have taken the job at Marquette or somewhere else. His name is all over the place in coaching vacancy discussions among those who know college basketball. What he did very quickly after taking over for his father, Dick Bennett, at Washington St is remarkable. His teams play a very physical, grind-it-out type of basketball. To me he would have been a good fit at Indiana, where you need to be able to defend and grind out low possession games in order to win in the Big Ten. Even though that job has been filled, I still think his name should resurface elsewhere.
2. Sean Miller: This guy can coach. There has not been any drop off at all since Thad Matta left the Xavier program because Miller gets the most out of his players. The Musketeers made an elite 8 run this year and even though Miller just signed a big extension with a large buyout, many programs should be interested. He loses seniors Josh Duncan, Stanley Burrell, and Drew Lavender, so the team will not be as good next year. A good fit in my opinion would be Oklahoma St or Marquette.
3. Chris Lowery: One year ago, Lowery was one of the hottest coaches in the country. He had taken his Southern Illinois Salukis to the Sweet 16 and put up a great fight against Kansas. He interviewed at a couple schools including Michigan, but chose to remain at SIU. This year was a down year for the Salukis (18-15), but the trademark pressure defense was still there (a respectable 29th adjusted defense ranking). His ability to teach defense is sorely needed at programs like Alabama, Virginia, or Penn St (101, 123, 141 respectively). Then again, Penn St isn’t a promotion up from a Missouri Valley powerhouse like SIU. Dave Leitao seems secure for now at UVA, but Mark Gottfried could be on the hot seat with another 17-16 or worse record next season (unlikely with Ronald Steele coming back).
4. Scott Drew: The Baylor basketball program was in shambles only three years ago. They were perennial doormats in the Big 12 and had a murder suspect on the team. Drew, the brother of Bryce, is only 37 but has shown he can turn a program around quickly (NCAA berth this year). He might not even have to switch conferences and could work out as a backup plan for Oklahoma St.
5. Anthony Grant: Never before has one first round game meant more to a coach than last year’s upset over Duke was for Grant. It gave him instant credibility in the coaching business. As a disciple of Billy Donovan, he has that working to his advantage as well. In the last two seasons he has lead Virginia Commonwealth to a 52-14 record, one which not many schools can match. My guess is that he’ll take a job in the SEC at Auburn maybe or Georgia.
6. Norm Roberts: He took over in the middle of the 2004 season for Mike Jarvis and has put St John’s into a deep state of mediocrity. Actually mediocre is generous. He had a class of eight freshmen this year, but that is his only point of leverage with the AD. The Johnnies struggle to get a couple thousand people to the Garden, and it is my belief that he will be fired if he doesn’t at least get St John’s into the top 12 of the Big East next year.
7. Leonard Hamilton: Florida State is eternally on the bubble. They always manage to pull off one big marquee win, but then lose two games at home and are left NIT bound. It’s not that the recruits haven’t been there. Toney Douglass, Von Wafer, and Al Thornton were all big time talents. The NCAA berths just haven’t been there. Something tells me if they don’t crack the field of 65 next year, they’ll go in a different direction.
8. Bill Carmody: Let’s face it. Northwestern isn’t exactly a program with great tradition (Zero all time tournament berths). They’re in the Big Ten but aren’t even the best program in Chicago. I’d give it to Depaul or even Loyola. They went 1-17 this past season and are consistently dominated in the Big Ten. Carmody’s gotta be gone soon.
9. Jeff Lebo: Auburn is a football school. Don’t tell Sir Charles that, but with Lebo at the helm, the Tigers have fallen into SEC obscurity. They have gone 4-12 in conference the last two seasons. Lebo hasn’t done much recruiting-wise since he got there in 2004 and will be probably be gone sometime in the near future. I think Anthony Grant would be a good fit there in 2009.
10. Bobby Gonzalez: I actually think Gonzalez deserves another two years before the AD thinks about firing him. But, given the hotbed of the New York-New Jersey area for high school basketball talent, there is no excuse for not getting the players he needs. The Pirates of Seton Hall made the Big East Tournament this year (12 out of 16 teams make it), but that isn’t good enough. Soon enough the team will need to make the jump to the NCAA Tournament. Will Gonzalez be able to take them there in two years?

Ranking the top 12 conferences

Major Conferences

1. Big East- the Big East is the biggest and the best. With 16 teams and a minimum of seven making the NCAA tournament annually the Big East is the number one conference. They have the historic programs like Louisville, Syracuse, Georgetown and the next tier of prestige with Villanova, St. Johns, Pittsburgh and UCONN. The Big East ranks first in number of NBA players on opening night rosters for the NBA which shows players succeed coming out of the powerful eastern conference.

2. ACC- The Big 12 and Pac 10 each had a strong case for this spot but the reason the ACC comes in second is the lack of a bad team. Every program within the ACC is capable of making the tournament in any given year (thank you Oliver Purnell for resurrecting Clemson). Also the ACC only has one less NBA player than the Big East. Lastly there is something they call Tobacco Road which holds possibly the two most prestigious programs in Duke and UNC.

3. Pac 10- Done with Big 12

4. Big 12- Originally I had the Big 12 in the 3 spot and Pac 10 here but I reevaluated. There are 45 NBA players who played in the Pac 10 only 36 from the Big 12. Adv: Pac 10. The Pac 10 has UCLA the Big 12 has Kansas Adv: Push Each year in the Pac 10 there seems to be only one truly bad team sometimes two (Oregon St. and sometimes Wash St.) in the Big 12 there are usually three or 4. Adv: Pac 10. Arizona and Texas Adv: Push Overall Pac 10 won.

5. SEC- Real Close with the Big 10 and because of Florida has certainly become a premier conference and gets the nod here. In the past few years the SEC has been on the rise considerably with LSU making the final four, Florida winning the tournament twice and programs like Tennessee being resurrected. Not to mention one of the top programs in all of college basketball in Kentucky.

6. Big 10- I know this was a down year for the Big 10 but there are some things that are consistent that make this the 6^th best conference (Northwestern for one). Northwestern basketball is pathetic they have fewer NCAA tournament appearances then Mississippi Valley St. (No offense Delta Devils). Despite the Bob Knight and Indiana’s esteemed history, Bo Ryan and his great homeland recruiting, and Tom Izzo making Mich. St. a top power year in year out the Big 10 is the 6^th best conference.

Above Mid Major but Not Quite Majors

7. Conference USA- Only here because of Memphis but having the second best team in the country will propel you to here. Also UAB is a program that has had success and we can’t forget Houston’s glory days.

8. A-10- If Xavier had made the final four they would have jumped Conf USA. Despite being called the A-10 they have 14 teams which leads me to beg the question what are St. Bonaventure, St. Louis, Charlotte, and Richmond doing in this league?

High Mid Majors

9. Missouri Valley- Southern Illinois and Creighton made this middle of the pack league into a perennial power. Teams like Drake this year just add to that. Also there are 5 NBA players from the MVC and without looking I can name Kyle Korver, Patrick O’ Bryant and Blake Ahearn.

10. Mountain West- Every year UNLV kills me in the tournament by winning when I pick them to lose. Also it seems that BYU, New Mexico and Utah are consistently good. With 4 consistently solid teams this team rounds out our top 10.

Regular old Mid Major (The Way we like it)

11. Colonial- This conference can thank Jim Larranaga for this spot. Anytime your conference makes a final four you mooch it for as long as you can. Also this is a hotbed for up and coming coaches as Jeff Capel, Jay Wright and soon Anthony Grant schools’ know.

12. West Coast Conference- This year was the first good year for the conference in recent memory. But the reason this conference is at the 12 spot and deserves this spot is Gonzaga plain and simple.

Bonus:

What would an all-star conference be that didn’t include BCS teams?

The Cross Continent Conference would be the name and the teams would be

1. Memphis
2. Xavier
3. Gonzaga
4. Southern Illinois
5. Nevada
6. Butler
7. Kent St.
8. BYU
9. UNLV
10. Creighton
11. Western Kentucky
12. UAB

Well I was wrong

This tournament could have been my worst showing ever. I have consistently picked underdogs and when four 1 seeds make it-well it makes it real tough to do well. The one final four team i had winning was UCLA and i was almost sure that they would win the title. They seemed to find ways to win all season and I thought for sure Memphis' free throw shooting would catch up with them like it almost did against Mississippi St. (my do or die pick this tournament).

About the games last night:

Memphis beat UCLA and had everything going right for them. Seriously, even Taggert stepped outside in hit a three (his first of the year). Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley are the only two studs that will be in the draft next year (that being said the Knicks will get the 3rd pick). All year UCLA and Ben Howland found ways to win and had an experience advantage over everyone. When Josh Shipp came out hitting from long range it seemed only another game in their redemption for the last two final fours. Yet Darren Collison, a point guard I have been praising all season as the one I want the ball with choked. Consistently he would get burned by Rose and he got into foul trouble. Russell Westbrook seemed to be the only Bruin who showed up for most of the game. Kevin Love should return to Westwood for another year. He didnt play the way he had all season and can't go out with that sore taste in his mouth. For this team next year I think that Westbrook will go to the draft, everyone else will stay (except for graduation of Mata) and Jrue Holiday will be a sufficient fix for Westbrook and they are my pick to win it all next year.

As for Memphis, If they play like that I don't think Kansas will be able to beat them. CDR and Rose are probably the best 1-2 threat in the game. In fact I think the Knicks would like to see CDR and Rose in the back court/wing rather than Jamal (who is very good) and Fred Jones(not so much). If Dorsey is a beast like he was in this game and Kansas can't stop AASAA then Coach Cal and his boys will be cutting down the nets.

In the other game Kansas came out on fire. They were up 38-10 in a game that was supposed to be a even match up. Us here at CDTN have been saying that North Carolina has been overrated all season but even we were surprised when they were down 28 in the first half. Kansas has great depth in the back court. Collins, Robinson and Chalmers all played very well. But Bill Self's most pleasent surprise was the play of Cole Aldrich. Aldrich you may remember as that customary Big White guy McDonald's All American (Last year we had an abundance: Love, Aldrich and Koufos). He then came into Lawrence and slimmed down but couldn't crack the rotation (10 mpg). I don't really blame him he was behind Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur two of the most athletic bigs in the country. Well last night when he came in he looked like a future NBA star. He outplayed Tyler Hansbrough (National POY) and was running the floor, blocking shots, and surely making NBA scouts scratch their heads as to why the hadn't been up on him longer. Kansas led UNC back in the game and it was just a matter of whether they could hold them off. When it was a 6 point game with about 12 minutes to go I thought for sure UNC would come back in win but Kansas showed gritt and determination and held them off.

For UNC Tyler dissapointed. Usually his pleas for contact on the offensive end are what makes him so effective at times but last night they werent helping because the Kansas guards were swiping and stripping him on occasion. Also Tyler is a liability on defense. Arthur and Aldrich each held him in position and caught easy entrance passes for lay ups. Danny Green was the lone bright spot. Green is tall athletic and can shoot. He kept them in the game with his shooting abilities. At a certain point Marcus Ginyard is going to have to hit a jump shot or he can't start on UNC. It is that simple, he may be a great defender but you need some scoring ability out of your off guard. Quentin Thomas ended his career last night. It was a disappointing career to most, but he does go out as the all time winningest player in Carolina history. He also will be missed in the locker room because he was liked by all. Thomas' freshman year he was on the team that won it all with Felton, May, and Marvin. Tyler should stick around for his senior season and Ellington and Ginyard need to really work on their shots. Lawson needs to stay healthy and they should be back next year. If they can get Deon Thompson to be a force down low will be the x-factor.

For the championship game I like Memphis over Kansas. This one i didn't really know who to pick over the other but I'm gonna go with the more experienced coach in Coach Cal.

Wrap Up

Well, college basketball failed us devotees this year. In a down year which I already posted about we have a down final four. The cool stories of the tournament have been mid-majors. Stephen Curry and his boys at Davidson abominated two of the best defenses in the by raining threes on Georgetown and Wisconsin. On that point, Stephen Curry has been overhyped by the national media recently, which is what happens when you average over 30 ppg in the tournament. He’s definitely coming back next year and will be a target of everyone and their grandma to watch for from the opening tip. I feel more major conference players should do what Stephen did (Steph wasn’t by choice really) in going to a mid-major conference where they can light it up. I doubt that Stephen Curry is better than A.J. Abrams or Mario Chalmers or Ronald Ramon from downtown yet he has the ball in his hands all the time and gets to score more points and average more than 25 ppg. Abrams, Chalmers, and Ramon’s all go to the big time program because it will give them better exposure when in reality it limits their opportunities. If you are a shooter you are probably better off at a mid-major.

Western Kentucky, Belmont and San Diego also provided us with excitement. The Western Kentucky-Drake game was the best of the tournament and had that “only can happen in march” game winning shot. Belmont put a scare into Duke and took a team full of non-winners (callout: Paulus, Scheyer, Henderson) to the last second in the first day’s only exciting game. San Diego beat Connecticut in a very exciting game. Even with their two best scoring options out they still found a way to beat a Big East squad and salvage something of the three bid tournament showing for the WCC.

On Coaching Changes. Tom Crean, you are one of my favorite coaches but I really don’t understand your decision making on this one. I know you feel that Indiana is a top 7 job (no order: UNC, Kansas, Duke, UCLA, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana) but your going to a team that was a 8 seed and doesn’t have one starter returning. Not one. And whoever inherits the job at Marquette should send Tom Crean a huge thank you. They on the otherhand inherit a team returning 4 starters and their four best players. The triumvirate of Wesley Matthews, Dom James, and Jerel McNeal are as good as any guards in the country and they all are seniors. The Marquette coach should get to the sweet sixteen next year in their first year: looks like a pretty good job to me.

Another one of CDTN’s favorites Jim Christian is leaving Kent St. and I feel settling for the TCU job. Is it really an upgrade? At Kent he had one of the top mid-major programs year in year out. Now he is going to TCU where memories of Lee Nailon are long gone. I would have been happy to see him end up at Providence but I’m kind of disappointed here.

Duke’s former lead “Jumping Jacked Towel Waver” Taylor King is transferring. His two leaders are Villanova and Gonzaga and both can use a shooter like King (Just as long as they make him sign that he won’t resort to the Jumping Jack’s anymore).

Watch out for Niagara in the upcoming year, they have impact transfer that had to sit out this year but next year watch out MAAC.

With all four 1 seeds hopefully we get some great basketball games this weekend. Cutting Down The Nets Pick: UCLA over Kansas