The Hot Corner - July 12th

[justinevans]

It is alright, have fun. It is in PDF format.

[LeftWideOpen]

excellent work by those who participated, especially the college bball piece.

and i swear i'll have something for the next one lol, my summer classes are finally over.

[Broken Parachute]

I might not be able to do anything until school starts. I have so much summer work to do plus summer classes coming up,.

[xbrokendownx]

thats sweet, really good articles this week

[mcfly21]

very well put together

better a lot of stuff you see on the internet

[StandMyBrothers]

great stuff

[JezisHChrist]

Where's the hockey?

[bigmike]

Where's the hockey?
I think John (broken_parachute) is supposed to be working on it.


those b-ball articles were really good, especially since i know little about the big 12, to be honest.

and i'm anxious to compare the top 25 college football ranking in here with the official ones.

[justinevans]

yeah, we need more writers.

[preppyak]

those b-ball articles were really good, especially since i know little about the big 12, to be honest.
The first one took a while...but the second part, the Texas A&M thing, was mainly just me ranting...

I might not be able to do anything until school starts. I have so much summer work to do plus summer classes coming up,.
haha, nice avatar
yeah, we need more writers.
true...sports are also a little slow, so it's harder to write on a few things

[bigmike]

yeah, we need more writers.
yeah, i need to get moving on writing something. but this idea will definitely take off in the fall when all the other sports pick up, though.

[justinevans]

yeah, i need to get moving on writing something. but this idea will definitely take off in the fall when all the other sports pick up, though.

hopefully.

[justinevans]

Are people actually enjoying reading this?

Also, for the previews. Instead of doing one big huge one. Each week someone could just preview a conference or two leading up into the season.

What do you think?

[preppyak]

Are people actually enjoying reading this?

Also, for the previews. Instead of doing one big huge one. Each week someone could just preview a conference or two leading up into the season.

What do you think?
Sounds good...

I'm slowly working on a Top 25 ranking thing for the beginning of the season...and probably around September or so we'll actually do the AP ranking of the teams.

Hopefully I'll get to another article this week

[StandMyBrothers]

come back

[preppyak]

haha...i doubt we had enough articles for it yet...I put in one about a week ago, but I figured we'd be waiting til September to start it up again

[The Matt Kaufman]

cool..new to me but looks awesome

[justinevans]

come back

hahah I've got one article in....I'll post it in here.

I've been busy trying to become employed.

here was the article

What Have You Done For Me Lately
Ben Howland, Rick Barnes, and Jay Wright got big extensions. Mike Davis, Quinn Snyder, and Herb Sendek are all gone from their teams. So what's the lesson from the 05-06 season for coaches? Simply this, if you want to keep your job, you need a few years of success, topped off with a great season, or a deep run into the tourney. But, if you have one or two losing seasons in a row, or you don't clear the hump of being 3rd best in a conference, it's not your job anymore. So, with that in mind, what coaches should be looking to keep their moving boxes near their desk this upcoming season? A few come to mind…
Lute Olson
I might as well start with the most outrageous choice first. Lute Olson is a legend at Arizona; he is loved by probably every fan there. He could probably go 0-30 this season and still not be fired. The problem, 0-30 may not be a long stretch in comparison…and reality hits harder than many fans think. Arizona graduated almost all of their talent…6 of their top 7 scorers. And while Marcus Williams decided to stay on for this train wreck, he is one man in a sea of nothingness. When the biggest news that Arizona can muster up is drama from a guy who scored 3.1 ppg in 28 games last season (JP Prince, probably now starting guard), things aren't so good.

Usually what made Arizona impressive was they always managed to finish atop the Pac 10…no matter the season. But Lute Olson just isn't taking the talent he has and making it better anymore. And his recruiting class is weak this year, ranked 23rd by Rivals.com, behind conference rivals Washington's #7 and Stanford's #11 classes even. That's right, behind Stanford. Recruiting was Lute's bread and butter, he may not have been a great coach, but he brought in kids that made him look like he was. No more. He has one 5 star guy, an impressive 3 man by the name of Chase Budinger. Sure, he looks like Danny Bonaduce right before puberty (or even a young Bill Walton), but he was the #4 prospect in the 2006 class, and he is a lights out shooter. So, that leaves Lute with two kids who can play, one a freshmen, and a team of mediocre players who, if JP Prince is any indication, have attitude problems even before they get significant minutes. Lute's got his work cut out for him, and that's if he hopes to finish in the top 5 in the Pac 10. Oh, and did I mention that the traveling circus, OJ Mayo, is coming to his conference in 2007…

Odds there is a new coach in Arizona next season: 30:1 (10:1 if either of the two stars get hurt).

Odds that he has any talent left after this year: 200:1 (Williams is gone, Bonaduce probably is too)


Tommy Amaker
I read this from Mike DeCourcy about a week ago:

"Michigan had recruited eight top-100 players and four top-50 players in a five-year span. And still, the Wolverines are looking for their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Amaker. He's made one tournament trip in nine seasons as a head coach. For his career, his teams are 14 games below .500 in conference play."

I was stunned, I mean, how the hell does he even have a job now. Looking at his recruiting classes, they have been on par if not better than Illinois' in the last 4 years, with Dee Brown being the only recruit that Michigan can't measure up to. And Ohio State has basically half of Michigan's four star recruits in that time frame. I mean, I'm dubbing Tommy Amaker the "genius of July," because he somehow manages to pull in great recruits every summer, even despite having sub-par facilities and no winning ways. Even for 2007 he managed to pull the re-commitment of Alex Legion (#38 in the 2007 class), who initially pulled out of it deciding he didn't want to go to Michigan. It seems he had the right idea there for a while. Daniel Horton had his breakout season as a freshman, and then regressed for two years before finally having his best season as a senior. Of the three non injury seasons for Lester Abram, this season was his worst. Dion Harris showed the same regression. I mean, if it wasn't for Courtney Sims, nobody would have continued their progression at the school. Amaker makes Lute Olson look like a seasoned groomer of talent.

What's worse, Michigan has no excuse for missing the tourney last season…other than Amaker that is. I mean they were ranked as high as 21, and stayed in the poll for two weeks. And then they finished the season an impressive 2-6. I mean, Georgetown and WVU collapsed at the end of last season too, but they still made the tourney, it's what good teams do. Sure Michigan went far in the NIT, but you don't celebrate winning the JV Championship and keep the coach around. In my mind, Amaker might not even see March this season; he looks like Quin Snyder of last year to me (in terms of situation, not hair product).

Odds that Amaker sees another July: 6:1 (Barbaros Kentucky Derby Odds…I'm calling it a sure thing)

Odds that Oden puts up a double-double in every game against him: 1:1 (Unless he breaks a leg or something)

Tubby Smith
I come to him last because I know he is gone by the end of the year, it's just that simple. I mean I'm giving the Human Implosion Tommy Amaker better odds of being there at season's end than I am Smith. I don't like to call anything a "sure thing", but this in my mind is. The SEC is strong this year, Florida, LSU and Tennesse are good, and so is Arkansas. Is this a bad time to mention that Mississippi State had a nasty recruiting class that is turning into sophomores this year, along with Jamont Gordon who may be on par with Kevin Durant and Julian Wright as one of those guys who can dominate a game. These all wouldn't be probems if Kentucky had one thing. Rajon Rondo. But he won't be there at season's start, and Tubby won't be at season's end.

I know this for one reason alone, it's all I need. Kentucky doesn’t have the talent, flat and simple. Randolph Morris is good, yes. But he's not good enough to carry a team. And he won't even see the ball most of the game. I know I've said this before, with Sparks and Rondo gone, that's 11 assist a game, and that's most of Morris' touches in a game. And who replaces that duo…why who better than freshmen and people playing new positions. According to a Yahoo article, Tubby Smith wants Ramel Bradley to move to point guard and Joe Crawford to move from small forward to shooting guard. Those are two very tough switches to make, especially the move to point. Smith also said he expects freshman guards Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper to play right away as well. Duke saw the problems that a new or freshmen point guard brings to your team…and they had two first team All Americans. Kentucky just doesn't. He also plans to use Randolph Morris at the 4 spot a little as well…and I'm just not sure he has the range or athleticism to make that work either. In short, Kentucky, the team with the most NCAA tournament appearances and wins, just won't stand for failure. Not two seasons in a row (and I do consider last season a failure as a whole). Then again, Tubby never looked particularly great in blue anyway.

Odds that Tubby doesn't see his 2007 recruits play from courtside: 3:1

Odds that if he does, that courtside seat is next to Ashley Judd instead of the assistant coaches: 2:1

[xbrokendownx]

jay wright <3

[preppyak]

jay wright <3

Jay Wright is the most "set" coach in the entire game. Ever since he beat KU (fuckers) he has done no wrong...and is only going up from there. It will be 10 years or a major scandal until his name even becomes a possibility on the chopping block

The only guy with less possible chance of fucking up is the new Baylor coach..I mean, the old guy was fired for covering up a murder, you could go 0-16 and look like a fucking genius in comparison. Add in that he pulled in 2 top 100 recruits, he might be there on Jay Wright's level of "good to go" for the next decade

Tubby Smith though...he's straight fucked in my mind. I love the guy, but, Kentucky just isn't responding to him anymore


Odds that he has any talent left after this year: 200:1 (Williams is gone, Bonaduce probably is too)

Haha..I had forgotten I compared the kid to Danny Bonaduce..he's also got a Dirk Nowitski look-alike picture

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060327/images/sp_mug.jpg

[bigmike]

You're a good writer for basketball articles. I would think about a sports journalism major or something, if i were you.



However, Drew Naymick, for Michigan State is the only one that can be compared to Bill Walton. Seriously. Taken from Scout.com:

Biography:Vince Baldwin of PrepSpotlight.com writes: “ Big redhead reminds you a little of a young Bill Walton. Very good hands, very good passer, and can score from both sides of the block. Just keeps improving.” Well, Naymick certainly improved enough that the there was a long caravan of coaches making the way to watch him as a junior.

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=175&p=8&c=1&nid=220425

Drew Naymick 2006 Stats:
7 Games, 10.6 MPG, 1.1 pts, 1.6 rbd, 0.4 Assist, 0.7 Steals, 0.3 Blocks, 2.4 Fouls/Game

So Walton Like



:shake:

[preppyak]

You're a good writer for basketball articles. I would think about a sports journalism major or something, if i were you.

Thanks...I'm actually looking at getting into ESPN or a sports coverage of some form...but, I do a lot of video work, so I'd rather be behind the camera filming it than neccesarily talking about it. I'd probably be good at journalism, but, I prefer video work to it.

[bigmike]

Thanks...I'm actually looking at getting into ESPN or a sports coverage of some form...but, I do a lot of video work, so I'd rather be behind the camera filming it than neccesarily talking about it. I'd probably be good at journalism, but, I prefer video work to it.
that'd be really cool.

[MrMet]

Looks good.

[bigmike]

Bump. Remember these?

[rcrook]

Justin actually did something cool?

[preppyak]

haha, why are we bumping these...?

[livethesounds]

bigmike's trying to rekindle an old fire.

[bigmike]

Haha, they came up in the MLB thread so I went back searching for them.

[Scott Weber]

whyyyyyyyyyyy.