The Hoops Junkie

 
Last week I previewed the Midwest and made my predictions, which turned out to be terrible. This region has gone from being the toughest to the weakest pretty quickly due to the upsets of Kansas and Georgetwon, and the injury to Kalin Lucas. It seems like anything is possible in the Midwest now, but here’s what I look for.

 
(5) Michigan State vs. (9) Northern iowa

• Current Line - Michigan State minus 1
• KenPom Ratings – #24 Northern Iowa (53 on O, 14 on D) vs #26 Michigan St (35 on O, 30 on D)
• Probable Future NBA Players - Kalin Lucas (Michigan St) – out with injury
• Fringe NBA Players - Durrell Summers (Michigan St)
• The Pick- I honestly didn’t get to see enough of this Northern Iowa team yet to give very good analysis on this one, but I’ve liked what I have seen from them. While Kansas was the better team, and the game was an upset, it didn’t really appear to be fluky. UNI controlled the tempo, played solid defense, and they have shooters on the perimeter in bangers inside who did a great job on the boards. So as much as I like Tom Izzo, and as hard as it is to pick his teams to lose, I don’t think they’ll have enough in this one without Kalin Lucas, and with a hobbled Chris Allen. Maybe backup point guard Korie Lucious will come through big the absence of Lucas, and maybe Darrell Summers will have another huge game to put MSU over the top, but I think Northern Iowa is probably the better team here with the personnel that will be on the floor. Winner – Northern Iowa continue reading »

Since ESPN is calling this ”rivalry week,” and the conference races are starting to shape up, I thought I’d do a preview of what to watch this week in college hoops. The weekdays are loaded with good games, but the weekend doesn’t have quite as many matchups that jump out as me as some of the past few have. It’s NBA All Star Weekend though… and Valentine’s Day on Sunday, so maybe that’s a good thing.

• Villanova at West Virginia (Monday, 7PM ET on ESPN) – This should be a great matchup of two of the best teams in the Big East with contrasting styles. West Virginia will probably try to utilize their size advantage on the wings with Da’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, and Kevin Jones. Villanova, on the other hand, will try to use their speed and quickness by having guys like Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, and Maalik Wayns constantly putting pressure on the defense with their dribble penetration. This game will be important for both teams in terms of seeding for the NCAA tournament. Both are in the mix for potential #1 seeds.
• Kansas at Texas (Monday, 9PM ET on ESPN) – Texas has really struggled lately dropping 4 of their last 6 games since starting out 17-0 and being ranked #1 in the nation. I still think there’s too much talent on this team to completely freak out and bail on them, but this is definitely a big game for them at home. They need to play with confidence, and each player needs to buy into their role. Kansas is undefeated in Big 12 play but needed overtime in 2 of their last 3. Like Texas, they also have so much talent that it can be difficult to get each individual player playing within themself and doing what they need to do to win games. There is loads up NBA talent on both sides here with probably a minimum if 4 future NBA players on each team. continue reading »

About a month ago I did my early season top 10 and All American teams, so I figured now would be a good time to update them. There’s still plenty of time for things to change, but seeing teams play some big conference games has helped give me a feel for how good some of these squads really are. This time I’m going with a top 16 and ranking them not based strictly on thier resume, but instead who I would pick to win if the tournament started today.

As for the All American teams, I’m selecting who I believe have been the best college basketball players in country to this point in the season. Some guys may be on weaker teams, and some may not turn into good NBA players, but so far this year they’ve been great college players. And since there are so many guys worthy of recognition, I made quite a large honorable mention list. I could’ve gone way deeper too, but I had to stop somewhere.

 
1. Kansas – So deep in talent that they have guys who could be lottery picks who have nights where you hardly notice them (Aldrich & Henry). I think they’re the most solid all around team and like their experience and ability to play different speeds. continue reading »

• Watching Kirk Hinrich play over the course of his NBA career, I still feel like I never know what I’m going to get. I’ve always been a fan of his game, but there are times where he just hasn’t been very good. It seems to be pretty much a mental thing to me though. When he’s aggressive on offense and shoots the ball with confidence, he’s a solid all around guard. He can already defend both guard positions, and he has a nice feel for game, but his offense is so up and down depending on where his head is. It’s been great to see him playing better of late though, and I hope he can keep it up. It’s been well circulated that the Bulls are trying to clear cap space to make room to sign free agents this summer, so it will be interesting to see if anything happens with him before the trade deadline. I’ve read quite a few rumors about him going to the Lakers, and although it may seem like a great fit at first, I worry about his confidence on that team. He’s a guy who needs to have the ball in his hands some on offense and needs to have the mindset to be aggressive. I worry he could end up similar to Jordan Farmar, as a guy who’s not playing up to his full potential due to lack of role and lack of confidence. Regardless of what happens though, I’d love to see Hinrich keep his confidence high and continue to play well .He can be alot of fun to watch.
• If you’re looking for college basketball teams that aren’t ranked very highly now but have a chance to do some damage in March, I’ve got a few for you  – Baylor, Ohio St, and Georgia Tech. None of these teams has a ranking higher than 20 in either poll, but if you look at talent and potential to rattle off a few wins in the tournament, I think all three of these teams has what it takes. They all have their weaknesses though too, as shown by their losses and place in the polls. continue reading »