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Sims will be the best big on the floor and they can probably catch Duke on a few back doors...but idk how they score consistently enough to knock them off.
The College Basketball Post
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by allen3xis,
- Start date
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Michigan
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Their game is very perimeter oriented, obviously, and they need to make some shots. I thought they were done when they couldn't hit much inthe first half. No way, I thought UCLA would play that bad for an entire game. They got real lucky. John said as much. But if they can keep it in shoutingdistance(I don't expect it) they can shoot themselves to a win.
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i wasn't surprise by the results, Howland is still confused by the 1-3-1. I think UCLA is gonna win a close game tomorrow, like 3-6 points
TO's, Free throws, Defense all need to improve....Freshman need to adjustto college ball too.
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This is an important time of year in college basketball. The early signing period for high school seniors began on Nov. 12 and runs through Wednesday. Thereis some debate as to whom is the best high school player in America, but I'm here to tell you that there is no doubt who is the smartest.
His name is DeMarcus Cousins.
You could also make a case that Cousins is the most physically talented player in the country. At 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, he possesses an NBA-ready body withshooting range that extends beyond the three-point line. Rivals.com ranks Cousins No. 2 in the class of 2009. Scout.com ranks him No. 10. Last March,Cousins, who attends LeFlore High in Mobile, Ala., announced his intention to stay near home and play for UAB.
Cousins is ready to put pen to paper and make his commitment to UAB official, but he's adding one wrinkle: He wants UAB to put in writing that ifBlazers coach Mike Davis is not at UAB next season, then the school will release Cousins from his National Letter of Intent (NLI).
"My whole point of committing to the school was to play for coach Mike Davis," Cousins told me Monday. "If he gets another job offer orleaves for his own personal reasons, I want to be able to leave [UAB] without any problems. I need that in writing so there won't be any issues. That'sreal important to me."
Sounds reasonable, right? Yet, UAB has thus far declined Cousins' request. If he doesn't sign his Letter of Intent this week, Cousins will have towait until the spring signing period in April and May to sign his letter. Or, he may not sign the letter at all. Either way, UAB's intransigence is puttingthe school in jeopardy of losing out on the best recruit in school history.
Cousins' predicament shines an important light on the ridiculous charade that is the National Letter of Intent program. As I wrote last year, the NLI is completely voluntarily, yetevery year thousands of student-athletes in all sports sign it -- even though it is a one-sided document that has never been negotiated on their behalf.Furthermore, the NLI program isn't even governed by the NCAA. It falls instead under the province of the Conference Commissioners Association, whateverthat is.
Signing the NLI may seem routine -- until you read the fine print. The letter commits an athlete to spend one full year at that school. If he wants to leavebefore the year is up, the school has the option of releasing him without penalty. If the school doesn't release him, the athlete has to sit out a fullyear at his next school plus lose a year of eligibility. Even though we all know that players choose their colleges based mostly on the coach, the letterexplicitly states that a coaching change is not grounds for nullifying the agreement.
The unfairness of the NLI was driven home to Cousins last April, when his high school teammate, 6-4 guard Nick Williams, asked to bereleased from his commitment to Marquette after Tom Crean left to take the Indiana job. Marquette eventually granted Williams his release but,says LeFlore High coach Otis Hughley, "Ultimately it was up to Marquette, not Nick Williams. I couldn't even get Marquette to returnmy phone calls for almost a week. How many opportunities slipped through Nick's hands in the meantime?"
Cousins was unsettled by how events had rendered Williams powerless simply because he had signed a letter. "At one point it seemed like he reallydidn't know what to do," Cousins said. "He was ready to play for that coach, and when it was time for him to do it, things changed. That left himout on the water alone. I mean, it was just a whole other boatload of pressure he had to deal with."
Even so, Williams made out much better than Arizona freshman Jeff Withey. A 6-11 center from San Diego, Withey has asked U of A to releasehim from his NLI partly because the coach he committed to play for, Lute Olson, is no longer at the school. (Neither are the assistants whorecruited him.) Earlier this month, however, Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood informed Withey that the school would not grant him hisrelease. (Withey is currently not practicing with the team while he appeals the decision to a university committee.) Livengood's main concern is thatWithey's departure would hurt Arizona's Academic Progress Rate, potentially costing the program a scholarship. "I firmly believe, as the letter ofintent states, that he needs to stay a full academic year," Livengood said upon announcing his decision.
And yet, last year, Livengood granted a release to guard Laval Lucas-Perry that allowed him to transfer in December. In June he alsoreleased incoming forward Emmanuel Negedu, who then opted for Tennessee. Three other high school players who had committed to Olson were freeto change their minds this fall because they hadn't yet signed a Letter of Intent. If they had, would Livengood have released them? Or would he have takenthe hard-line stance he is taking with Withey? We'll never know, but the point is, it would have been solely the school's decision.
Part of the reason Cousins' situation is so sticky is that it appears Mike Davis made a promise on whichhe wasn't prepared to deliver. Hughley told me that when Cousins committed to UAB last March, Davis assured them that the school wouldpromise in writing that it would grant Cousins his release if Davis left. Either Davis foolishly made the deal without clearing it with his bosses, or hisbosses have changed their minds, because though athletic director Brian Mackin is prepared to give Cousins a verbal promise, there does notappear to be any kind of written agreement forthcoming. Cousins can play for UAB next season without signing a letter, but for now he is not committing toanything. "I would have to talk everything over with my family and my coach," Cousins said."Right now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do."
The Conference Commissioners Association handed over the administrative duties of the NLI program to the NCAA in October 2007. NCAA president MylesBrand told me at the time that his organization was only "doing the paperwork," but the NCAA is taking on an increasingly active role. Thisyear, the organization decided for the first time to insert language at the very top stressing that the letter is voluntary. "We want these prospects toknow what they're getting into," said the NCAA's Susan Peal, the director of the NLI. "Parents call me all the time [withquestions], and I tell them hey, you don't have to sign the NLI. The coach will give you an athletics aid agreement, which has to accompany the NLI anyway.Now, will institutions let you do that? Maybe not, but it's worth asking the question."
They might not do it for an average player, but Cousins has much more leverage than that. "My phone isgetting blown apart with other coaches calling," Hughley said. "They're wasting their time because the kid is committed to Mike Davis untilWednesday passes. After that, I don't know. He might open it back up. He's the level of player who can afford to take it slow. People will holdscholarships for him."
"I'm just waiting, and I'm going to see how the season goes for them (UAB) andother schools," he said. "I hope I can still sign in the early signing period, but it's looking more like that may nothappen."
His name is DeMarcus Cousins.
You could also make a case that Cousins is the most physically talented player in the country. At 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, he possesses an NBA-ready body withshooting range that extends beyond the three-point line. Rivals.com ranks Cousins No. 2 in the class of 2009. Scout.com ranks him No. 10. Last March,Cousins, who attends LeFlore High in Mobile, Ala., announced his intention to stay near home and play for UAB.
Cousins is ready to put pen to paper and make his commitment to UAB official, but he's adding one wrinkle: He wants UAB to put in writing that ifBlazers coach Mike Davis is not at UAB next season, then the school will release Cousins from his National Letter of Intent (NLI).
"My whole point of committing to the school was to play for coach Mike Davis," Cousins told me Monday. "If he gets another job offer orleaves for his own personal reasons, I want to be able to leave [UAB] without any problems. I need that in writing so there won't be any issues. That'sreal important to me."
Sounds reasonable, right? Yet, UAB has thus far declined Cousins' request. If he doesn't sign his Letter of Intent this week, Cousins will have towait until the spring signing period in April and May to sign his letter. Or, he may not sign the letter at all. Either way, UAB's intransigence is puttingthe school in jeopardy of losing out on the best recruit in school history.
Cousins' predicament shines an important light on the ridiculous charade that is the National Letter of Intent program. As I wrote last year, the NLI is completely voluntarily, yetevery year thousands of student-athletes in all sports sign it -- even though it is a one-sided document that has never been negotiated on their behalf.Furthermore, the NLI program isn't even governed by the NCAA. It falls instead under the province of the Conference Commissioners Association, whateverthat is.
Signing the NLI may seem routine -- until you read the fine print. The letter commits an athlete to spend one full year at that school. If he wants to leavebefore the year is up, the school has the option of releasing him without penalty. If the school doesn't release him, the athlete has to sit out a fullyear at his next school plus lose a year of eligibility. Even though we all know that players choose their colleges based mostly on the coach, the letterexplicitly states that a coaching change is not grounds for nullifying the agreement.
The unfairness of the NLI was driven home to Cousins last April, when his high school teammate, 6-4 guard Nick Williams, asked to bereleased from his commitment to Marquette after Tom Crean left to take the Indiana job. Marquette eventually granted Williams his release but,says LeFlore High coach Otis Hughley, "Ultimately it was up to Marquette, not Nick Williams. I couldn't even get Marquette to returnmy phone calls for almost a week. How many opportunities slipped through Nick's hands in the meantime?"
Cousins was unsettled by how events had rendered Williams powerless simply because he had signed a letter. "At one point it seemed like he reallydidn't know what to do," Cousins said. "He was ready to play for that coach, and when it was time for him to do it, things changed. That left himout on the water alone. I mean, it was just a whole other boatload of pressure he had to deal with."
Even so, Williams made out much better than Arizona freshman Jeff Withey. A 6-11 center from San Diego, Withey has asked U of A to releasehim from his NLI partly because the coach he committed to play for, Lute Olson, is no longer at the school. (Neither are the assistants whorecruited him.) Earlier this month, however, Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood informed Withey that the school would not grant him hisrelease. (Withey is currently not practicing with the team while he appeals the decision to a university committee.) Livengood's main concern is thatWithey's departure would hurt Arizona's Academic Progress Rate, potentially costing the program a scholarship. "I firmly believe, as the letter ofintent states, that he needs to stay a full academic year," Livengood said upon announcing his decision.
And yet, last year, Livengood granted a release to guard Laval Lucas-Perry that allowed him to transfer in December. In June he alsoreleased incoming forward Emmanuel Negedu, who then opted for Tennessee. Three other high school players who had committed to Olson were freeto change their minds this fall because they hadn't yet signed a Letter of Intent. If they had, would Livengood have released them? Or would he have takenthe hard-line stance he is taking with Withey? We'll never know, but the point is, it would have been solely the school's decision.
Part of the reason Cousins' situation is so sticky is that it appears Mike Davis made a promise on whichhe wasn't prepared to deliver. Hughley told me that when Cousins committed to UAB last March, Davis assured them that the school wouldpromise in writing that it would grant Cousins his release if Davis left. Either Davis foolishly made the deal without clearing it with his bosses, or hisbosses have changed their minds, because though athletic director Brian Mackin is prepared to give Cousins a verbal promise, there does notappear to be any kind of written agreement forthcoming. Cousins can play for UAB next season without signing a letter, but for now he is not committing toanything. "I would have to talk everything over with my family and my coach," Cousins said."Right now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do."
The Conference Commissioners Association handed over the administrative duties of the NLI program to the NCAA in October 2007. NCAA president MylesBrand told me at the time that his organization was only "doing the paperwork," but the NCAA is taking on an increasingly active role. Thisyear, the organization decided for the first time to insert language at the very top stressing that the letter is voluntary. "We want these prospects toknow what they're getting into," said the NCAA's Susan Peal, the director of the NLI. "Parents call me all the time [withquestions], and I tell them hey, you don't have to sign the NLI. The coach will give you an athletics aid agreement, which has to accompany the NLI anyway.Now, will institutions let you do that? Maybe not, but it's worth asking the question."
They might not do it for an average player, but Cousins has much more leverage than that. "My phone isgetting blown apart with other coaches calling," Hughley said. "They're wasting their time because the kid is committed to Mike Davis untilWednesday passes. After that, I don't know. He might open it back up. He's the level of player who can afford to take it slow. People will holdscholarships for him."
"I'm just waiting, and I'm going to see how the season goes for them (UAB) andother schools," he said. "I hope I can still sign in the early signing period, but it's looking more like that may nothappen."
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Most times these players are allowed out of their LOI's though when a coach changes before they get enrolled and start practicing with him.
it's one thing like at Arizona where these guys all have shown up and such - but for the most part, these guys can get out of these LOI's quite easilyand without much hassle.
it's one thing like at Arizona where these guys all have shown up and such - but for the most part, these guys can get out of these LOI's quite easilyand without much hassle.
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Craftsy, I see Talor Battle is off to quite a sophomore year? Not much competition, but still..
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DeRozan is mad overrated.
jordanxi2001
Banned
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is it just me, or does Dickie V seem more annoying than usual?
once again, i know no one else cares, but the resurgence of St. Bonaventure basketball continues this weekend in Piscataway, New Jersey vs Delaware Fridaynight and vs Rutgers Sunday afternoon. it's a big weekend for my Bona boys to prove that they're for real. if they could beat a big east school and endthe weekend 4-0, that would be UNBELIEVABLE.
*if you live in NY, and rather watch St. Bonaventure @ Rutgers instead of Jets @ Titans, tune in to SNY at 2pm.
once again, i know no one else cares, but the resurgence of St. Bonaventure basketball continues this weekend in Piscataway, New Jersey vs Delaware Fridaynight and vs Rutgers Sunday afternoon. it's a big weekend for my Bona boys to prove that they're for real. if they could beat a big east school and endthe weekend 4-0, that would be UNBELIEVABLE.
*if you live in NY, and rather watch St. Bonaventure @ Rutgers instead of Jets @ Titans, tune in to SNY at 2pm.
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^ worry about Marc Egerson first tomorrow night.
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Yeah he's doing pretty well.. but the team is gonna be the same old story. We don't defend, and we can't score inside consistentlybecause we don't have a player over 6'4 who can do a thing with the ball (and i'm counting Cornley as 6'2, i don't care if they list him at6'6). But yeah, we got pretty good small people
jordanxi2001
Banned
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ya, i heard that boy is a beast. g-town transfer, i assume that's how you're familiar with him. he's considered a guard and averaging22ppg and 14rebs a game
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Yeah, he's solid. Jawan Carter is another talented transfer they have and a former NT'er.
picknroll
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ehhh son only got up 4 shots tonight...Idk why he isnt getting more shots in this offence..
I wouldn't call him overrated I think he just has to learn to stop leaning on his athleticism so often
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Well that happens when the only reason he is there is so Romeo would sign with USC
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just wanted to drop by and ##$# on u usc fans.
sig check
sig check
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A&M is 69-10 at home in the last four seasons. The 69 home wins are the second most in the nation in that time frame behind Memphis (75).
Wow, definitely didn't know that...
Best shooters
What we look for: The top shooters from the swingman or small forward slot should have enough range and consistency from the perimeter that allows them to stretch defenses. Good shooting 3-men can stick it well beyond 3-point range and often have a better outside shooting touch than many guards.
1. Khris Middleton (North Charleston, S.C./Porter-Gaud School)
Middleton, a Texas A&M commit, has range that extends well beyond the 3-point line, and he connects on deep jumpers with a high level of consistency. He has a quick enough release to hit jumpers off the catch-and-shoot with relative ease. Middleton also has enough quickness and ballhandling skills to hit jumpers in the midrange area after putting the ball on the floor.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/...lliams_antonio&id=3619615
Hopefully he can fill in for Josh Carter real quick...
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I wouldn't say overrated but I would say the early season hype isn't warranted. I was thinking the same thing last night though. He never struck meas a killer on the basketball court. He lacks that killer instinct to take over a game. People compare him to Vince Carter but past the athleticism,that's where the comparisons have to stop. Vince's freshman year he was trying to dunk EVERYTHING. He attacked the rim 85% of the time he had theball in his hands and the other 15% he was attacking the rim off of miss shots/follow-ups. I don't see that with Derozan.
And you can't use the excuse that he's playing with alot of other scorers. We know Gibson is a blackhole, but Vince also had Jamison. I know he hasLewis and Hackett as well, but Vince had Shammond and McGinnis in the backcourt too (Calabria as well) and he was still gettin' his.
I sure hope he doesn't plan on leaving after this year. What sucks though is that all the main contributors on USC right now are juniors so when he'llget to shine, who knows.
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Derozan took 11 shots in his first game, 6 shots in his second game, and 4 last night. Obviously SOMETHING has to be going on within that offense because thatcan't be all on him.
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I just saw the highlights from the duke game
Damn, Nolan with the sick poster and Gerald
. I knew Gerald had hops,but that !$#* was ridiculous
Damn, Nolan with the sick poster and Gerald
tmukg21
Banned
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Can DeRozan get more than 3 games to adjust
After reading that DeMarcus Cousins article, I didn't know player signed LOIs not governed by the NCAA; something doesn't sound right
After reading that DeMarcus Cousins article, I didn't know player signed LOIs not governed by the NCAA; something doesn't sound right
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Manny Harris
fillin up them stats..
i wake up and see Duke with the route
im gonna go ahead and say demar is either overrated or he jus isnt that into it
i wake up and see Duke with the route
im gonna go ahead and say demar is either overrated or he jus isnt that into it
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Originally Posted by dreClark
Yeah Shannon.
He's an assistant coach now.
Just happened this year.
When Jay Will turned the job down.
Dont know how I missed this last night, but thanks for the info. I thought I saw him in one of the huddles but I figured he was still playing ball somewhere. Good to see he is still involved in the game.
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You guys have no idea how good that win against ucla feels for us UofM fans. I don't really expect them to beat duke but as long as they can keep itcompetitive maybe they can sneak something out in the last min. I can't wait till Lucas-Perry is eligible too.
