SB Nation User Blog: yawnz

Pitino Keeping It Simple

yawnz — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:01:38 -0000

Pitino Keeping It Simple

In Coach I tend to trust. Through the early losses, in years past, I've kept the faith because I believe not just in his record but in his knowledge of the game and his tireless game prep. Even more comforting: when the character of his team changes (once experienced and refined; suddenly raw, young, and talented), he adjusts.

In all the excitement about the Big Dance we may have forgotten to cheer the ladies.

yawnz — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:43:55 -0000

In all the excitement about the Big Dance we may have forgotten to cheer the ladies.

Problem with the Tournament?

yawnz — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:36:10 -0000

I stumbled onto this article today, entitled "How to save college basketball" I had no idea it needed saving, and I wondered why the disconnect. So I read...

http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2009/3/25/809788/how-to-save-college-basket

...and my immediate reaction is that it must depend on geography/allegiance, from fan to fan. As a Cardinal fan I don't think you could find more than a handful of people in the area who would understand this article at all in the sense that between economically thriving programs like UofL and UK, we can't see this problem anywhere. But I have heard these cries from fans of other schools and I feel like it has to depend on how much focus\money is put on\into the basketball program at each given school. Our programs can generally maintain a higher winning percentage (does anyone really expect UK to be down for long?) and aren't scrambling so much for recruits and ratings. The problem elsewhere, I feel, is just that there is too much competition.

Look at what happened to the SEC this year: generally regarded as a football conference, how can these schools be expected to compete with others that dedicate so many resources to basketball alone? I don't just mean Big East schools like Georgetown and UConn--which have built basketball empires and barely offer intramural football--I mean especially the mid-majors and low-majors. Does Gonzaga even field a football team? How often do you hear about Creighton, St. Mary's, Xavier, Cleveland St., Austin Peay, VCU, or Hofstra before the start of basketball season? Tthese schools field very good basketball teams, but they are coming out of conferences brimming over with mediocrity or worse. And when one of those even lessers pulls off a cinderella in the conference tournament, it makes a great story but it waters down the field of 65 and lowers ratings. I'm sure the 5,000 or so fans of Coppin State are tuning in, but by half time they are the only ones left.

Maybe I'm biased, taking the perspective of one of the big boys, but I really feel like there are WAAAY too many Division I schools in college basketball. I think maybe some of the winningest low and mid majors should be consolidated into some combination of CUSA/A10/MAAC/Pacific/SunBelt, and then drop the rest of the the teams into a subdivision. Maybe they get an allotment of 8 spots in the tournament for 4 play-in games and the rest of the at-large field comes from more talent-concentrated big conferences.

Whatever. I'm actually quite okay with the way things are, but this is how I perceive the supposed problem. Am I out of my mind?

Poll

Am I out of my gourd?

Absolutely nutters.

5 votes

Just out of touch.

1 votes

Nope, there are way too many Div I teams.

8 votes

No, just talking out of your ass.

5 votes

19 votes | Poll has closed

Everyone learn the Stanky Leg, the official victory dance of the Louisville Cardinals.

yawnz — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:44:43 -0000

Everyone learn the Stanky Leg, the official victory dance of the Louisville Cardinals.

More Memphis Complaints

yawnz — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:11:55 -0000

Has anyone ever looked over the rankings at Rivals/Yahoo and noticed that they include Head Coach rankings? Updated weekly and based, evidently, on how well their teams play. Is it just me or is that a stupidly silly idea?

Well if the idea itself isn't ridiculous, it certainly became that when Rivals decided to rank John Calipari at #2. Not only above Pitino, but also above Jamie Dixon (who has swept UConn) and Tom Izzo (who has kept the Big 10 relevant), who would be my top two. Bill Self was their #1 and I won't argue with that, but how could anyone justify putting Calipari there?

This Memphis madness has to end. Who looks at that team and can honestly say they are better than Michigan State or Oklahoma? But that's how they are ranked. And its not just a matter of them moving up as other teams lose and fall down in the rankings. No, Memphis received two 1st place votes from the AP poll this week and three 1st place votes from the coaches. WTF.

Two AP voters--not coaches, who might be trying to hype their team or conference--two AP voters decided that Memphis deserved to be the number one team in the country over a Pitt team that just completed a season sweep of former #1 UConn or a UNC team that survived a fairly competitive ACC, including two victories over bitter rival and former #1 Duke.

Am I wrong to be outraged?

Head Coach rankings: http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/viewcbse.asp?selposition=9

Poll

Who is your coach of the year thus far?

Jim Calhoun (UConn)

0 votes

John Calipari (Memphis)

1 votes

Jeff Capel (Oklahoma)

1 votes

Jamie Dixon (Pitt)

9 votes

Tom Izzo (Michigan St.)

0 votes

Trent Johnson (LSU)

5 votes

Coach K (Duke)

1 votes

RIck Pitino (Louisville)

30 votes

Lorenzo Romar (Washington)

3 votes

Bill Self (Kansas)

18 votes

Roy Williams (UNC)

0 votes

Buzz Williams (Marquette)

11 votes

other

1 votes

80 votes | Poll has closed

This Year, I Want It All.

yawnz — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:41:20 -0000

Even after a much too close win over West Virginia, I've never been so confident in the Cards' ability to beat anyone on any given day.

The games we didn't win (with the exception of UConn) were all remarkably unlikely considering the way we've played when at our best. Even against UConn we were clearly not the same team. But that team has been seen less and less as the year went on and if we get to the Big East title game we'll have a chance to say goodbye to that team once and for all. Personally, I want to face as tough a road as possible, to have a chance to knock down the best of the best along the way:

I want to face Villanova, and rematch UConn in the BEast Tourny.
Then I want to get a 2 seed in a UNC bracket so we get a rematch of last year's elite eight.
I'm hoping Memphis loses in the CUSA tournament and drops to a 3 seed so we get to face them too.
I'm hoping UK wins the SEC tournament, gets a 10 seed, and faces us in the second round of the NCAAs.
Then I want Oklahoma in the Final Four, because they can't hang with the big dogs.
Finally another clash with Pitt in the Championship game.

I want it to be epic and by the time its done I want even Edgar Sosa to be able to lay claim to some manhood. I want E5 to play in games so meaningful that the weight of it drives him to greatness (and he avoids becoming the next Clifford Rozier). I want Terrance Williams' name to ring out triumphantly over the ESPN cubicles. I want a lifetime of experience and wisdom distilled down into one month of glorious basketball so Andre McGee will be more than prepared to become a coach and inspire future Cardinals. I want Rick's Hall of Fame resume to get another emphatic bullet point, cementing his enshrinement as a Cardinal, not a Cat. I want Reece, Cisco, Taquan, Otis, Myles, LarryO, Almost Dunking Marquis Maybin, Dejuan Wheat, Tick Rogers, Rozier, Beau Zach Smith, Labradford Smith, Samaki Walker, Butch Beard, Junior Bridgeman, Pervis, Griff, Charlie Tyra, Milt Wagner, Wes Unseld, and Coach Crum to jump with joy, maybe cry a little, and feel some reflected glory and a little extra pride at having been a part of the process that led to that point.

A Championship by an easier route would be satisfying but this year... I want it all. Is that asking too much?

Poll

Who would you MOST like to face along the way to a National Championship?

Pitt

3 votes

UConn

4 votes

Memphis

22 votes

UNC

23 votes

Oklahoma

11 votes

Marquette (with a healthy Dominic James)

0 votes

Kentucky

22 votes

Kansas

1 votes

Villanova\Syracuse\W.Va.\Notre Dame

1 votes

WKU\UNLV\Minnesota

7 votes

94 votes | Poll has closed