1. North Carolina - Listen carefully. When they decide to play defense, then its game over. Seriously. Its almost criminal to have a team with this much firepower and will get after it on the other side of the court. The game against Notre Dame served notice that there is no question as to who is the best team in the country. A healthy Hansbrough returned and is already averaging 22 points per game. But the most important cog in this machine is Tywon Lawson. Through 7 games, he is averaging 16 pts, 7 assists and 3 steals per game. Oh…and he has a gaudy 5:1 assist to turnover ratio.
2. Connecticut - Can you forgive us? Last week, we made the assertion that Louisville, not UConn, was the second best team in the country. We were wrong. UConn continues to show great maturity and athleticism in a couple of blowout wins last week. The slow start by A.J. Price is somewhat concerning, but Jerome Dyson is more that picking up the slack. With the emergence of Syracuse as a legitmate tournament team, the Big East is just a gauntlet of quality teams.
3. Pittsburgh - Since we mentioned the high-flying Sam Young last week, he’s averaged 24 points and 8 rebounds per game, while shooting 50% from the arc. You’re welcome, Samuel. Yet another really good Big East team. The key for Jamie Dixon’s young squad is to continue to mature in the early part of this season. We can promise you that future wins wont be this easy, come January. Oh….and Dejuan Blair is still a beast. 15 points and 12 rebounds. Every. Night.
4. Duke – OK, Dukies….we got the emails. “How can we be behind UCLA when UCLA lost to a team that we beat?” “More bias against the Devils.” “The media hates us.” So here you go, happy? Actually, you are deserving of this spot. Last week, Zoubek actually played pretty well and Lance Thomas has been a pleasant surprise. We’re still not as satisfied with Nolan Smith running the point as we thought we would be. Big game against Purdue on Tuesday night. Definitely, must-see TV.
5. UCLA – Just trudging along. They rebounded nicely from the Michigan loss with a blowout of the SIU Salukis. We’re a bit confused with the play of Jrue Holiday, though. For a kid with all of the skills in the world, his play the last week has been erratic. 9 points one game, 20 points the next. But of more importance, Holiday is averaging less than 2 assists per game. Horrid for a PG. (Yes, we know that Collison is the point guard, but Jrue handles the ball a lot, as well)
6. Gonzaga - Not only did they distinguish themselves from the pack vying for the 10th spot on our list, but they’ve damn near made our Top 5. The winners of the Old Spice Classic, the Zags served notice that they’ll be a team to reckon with all season. What we really like about this team is their balance. Heyvelt leads the team in scoring, yet isn’t their best player. Micah Downs has finally re-emerged, after what seems like ages since he transferred from Kansas, and is a solid contributor. Austin Daye had been pretty solid all year, before getting in foul trouble and being a non-factor in a very exciting game against Tennessee. This team might be for real, folks.
7. Oklahoma – He’s averaging 26 points and 19 rebounds per game, for Christ’s sake. Purdue figured the only way to stop was to double immediately. So he found his brother and Willie Warren on the perimeter and then went to work on the boards. The end result? 18 pts, 21 boards, 3 blocks. Oh….and an overtime win against a very good Purdue team to boot. It really is a joy to watch Blake Griffin at work. And unlike last season with Beasley, Griffin’s team is complete enough to make a run in March. We’re looking forward to that.
8. Notre Dame - No need to discredit a team for getting beaten by UNC. It will happen more often than not, and to very good teams. The fact that they never gave up speaks volumes for the team and should serve them well when play in the Big East starts. (Yes…another Big East team) Harangody will be sidelined with pneumonia for the next seven to ten days (How do you get pneumonia in Hawaii? Talk about unlucky…) but McAlarney is still very much active. He followed up his 39 pts, ten three-pointers performance with nine three-pointers, scoring 32 points in 24 effortless minutes. Show of hands….who would pay good money to watch Mac play Sephon Curry in a game of HORSE???
9. Tennessee – Our favorite college coach brings his team in to the Top 10 this week. After a great win against a surprising Georgetown Hoya team and a hard fought loss to the ‘Zags, Bruce Pearl is putting the SEC on notice…everyone else is playing for second place. In order to take the next step and become a Final Four contender, they will need to get better PG play from Jr. Bobby Maze. Regardless, they will be battle tested come March, with games against Kansas, Marquette and a rematch with Gonzaga on the horizon.
10. Wake Forest- Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The Deacs have been playing good ball all season. Jeff Teague is one of the better players that no one is talking about and the same can be said for sophomore James Johnson. A talented, but painfully young team, Dino Gaudio’s club will surely take their share of lumps. But the talent just can’t be ignored. And Al-Farouq Aminu hasn’t even had his break-through performance yet.
Knocking on the Door :
Texas, Michigan State, Purdue, Louisville, Arizona State and G’town.
Line of the Week:
0 for 3 from the field, 3 assists, 3 boards in 32 minutes. That was Steph Curry’s line last week against Loyola Maryland. The coach thought it would be wise to run a Triangle and 2 on Curry, basically making the game 4 on 3, the wrong way. The result….a 30 pt loss. Jimmy Patsos, the Greyhounds’ coach, was quite defiant after the game. He should be fired….post haste.
Player of the Year Watch:
Blake Griffin. We still have to go with Redhead Kingpin (hip hop aficionados remember that name). James Harden has thrown his hat into the fray as well. But we really think it comes down to Griffin and Curry. We’ll see….
Freshman of the Year Watch:
No one is blowing our socks off this year. But it’s not like we didn’t know it would be a rather weak crop of freshman. We’re really disappointed in BJ Mullens, though. He was earmarked for greatness but has shown little since the beginning of the season. So we’ll give the Freshman of the Year Watch award for Week Two to Deandre Liggins. Who is he? He’s a freshman point guard for the Kentucky Wildcats.
Well, last week, Liggins refused to enter a game when Coach Billy Gillespie called his number. The reason we know this is because Gillespie admitted such in the press conference. Is this what the Wildcat faithful envisioned after they unceremoniously let Tubby go? So Liggins gets our award for adding yet another smudge to the filthy program that is Kentucky. They get what they deserve.
What You Should Check For:
ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Ok….its not really a “challenge” if you’re looking at it from the ACC perspective. This series needs to go the way of Malik Yoba…..retired. There are a couple of compelling match-ups though….Carolina vs Michigan State being foremost. Ironic that the game is being played at Ford Field, site of this year’s Final Four. Could this be foreshadowing???
