Happy Fiscal New Year, everyone. We hope that your 2010-11 is filled with great financial security and hoops hysteria.
- Here’s some somewhat dated news, but it didn’t seem to get much attention until this week, which is that Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney evidently sees himself as a 1-and-doner when he finally gets to play this coming season. Sidney tweeted during last week’s draft the following: “NYC #2011 Believe dat.” The big man who sat out the entire 2009-10 season over concerns with his eligibility certainly has the ability to become a top prospect, but he may want to check next year’s draft location before he makes his reservations.
- It was an odd summer day for comings and goings yesterday, but Michigan dismissed junior guard Laval Lucas-Perry from its team for an undisclosed violation of team rules, while Oregon forward Jamil Wilson is transferring back east to Marquette for his final three years of eligibility. Lucas-Perry was a sometime starter for John Beilein’s team, now facing a huge rebuild after losing his two stars and another key contributor in LLP. Wilson was a starter at Oregon, averaging 5/3 in just under 17 minutes per game — nice coup for Buzz Williams to grab the talented forward from nearby Racine.
- Insert New Jersey chemical plant joke here… Rutgers will offer naming rights to its football and basketball stadiums (“the RAC”) as a way to offset some of the expense of a recent renovations. Some RTC ideas: The Honeywell Hive? The Prudential RAC? Toys R Us Arena? Campbell Soup Bowl? We could go on…
- An interesting discussion over at Fanhouse as to whether, with John Wooden’s passing, if Coach K is the best coach alive. He’s certainly on the short list, but it’s hard to believe that he’s above Phil Jackson or Scotty Bowman, much less Pat Summit or Geno Auriemma in his own sport.
- At the Under-19 World Championships, Team USA led by Duke’s Kyrie Irving (21 pts) and rising prep senior Austin Rivers (19 pts) won the gold medal when Quincy Miller (another rising senior) hit a three with 25 seconds remaining to give the Americans a three-point lead that stuck. Good job, fellas.
View Comments (2)
"[H]is own sport"? Hardly.
With regards to the best coach alive, I think it comes down to Bowman and K (in that order). I see the argument for Jackson, but I don't think you can underestimate Jordan or Kobe in his success. That doesn't detract from his 11 titles, but I think he really just discovered the best offense that revolved around elite go-to guys, and used it to dominate the league. Impressive, but I'm not sure it's "best coach alive." Auriemma and Summit have also had outstanding careers, but they need to be taken with a grain of salt. For obvious reasons (namely, the WNBA does not pay anything close to what the NBA plays), there is a far narrower talent pool in women's hoops. Instead of all women growing up focused largely on three sports (football, basketball, and baseball), they are much more spread out, since the allure of lifelong riches is not shining on the horizon. Again, I don't wish to diminish their accomplishments, but the fact is there is never as much parity in women's basketball as men's (which is why the top 5 essentially stay the same year in year out with a few exceptions). This is beginning to change, but I think there's a long way to go. Big programs are hugely more talented than their opponents (as showcased by the Duke-UConn game this year where the announcers seemed to think Duke, number 7 at the time, had a moral victory at halftime only being down eleven at the half (they went on to lose by 33 points...at home). I think until women's basketball nears the large spread of talent, it's hard to put Summit or Auriemma over K.