Stop. Before you think this is a disparaging, hating-ass letter, think about this. Since 1980, you've coached Duke University into 4 National Championships, 11 Final Fours, 12 ACC Regular Season Championships and 12 ACC Championships. That basically means for the past 30 years, you've probably been the most dominant coach in college basketball (there, I said it). That's easy to hate on, especially if you're one of the squads, coaches or fans that have been getting the business from Duke. In fact, that's only the first reason that people dislike Duke Basketball and you, Coach K.
The second reason is that your players have bad NBA careers. I mean, for a program with as many accolades over the past 20+ years, shouldn't there be a few stars at the next level to show for dominance in college? Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer and Grant Hill are cool. But JJ Redick?? No. Chris Duhon?? Chill. Shelden Williams. Please. Dahntay Jones Ehh.. Sorry Coach K. Your recruiting is less based on who the best player is and who can fit into your system. No isolations. Just off-ball screens and long sets to free up shooters. That's why LeBron James and Shaun Livingston decided not to go to Duke. They realized they'd have no place at Duke. Smith, Scheyer & Singler could have okay NBA careers, but they don't seem like they've got much for teams.
Coach K, there were at least 5 times in the past month I thought your team should have lost to a team that was a little more talented and athletic. Lo and behold, Duke won not because of talent and athleticism, but because of superior coaching. I can't knock you for that, even if the Duke logo makes me sick. You won this championship with a tried and true formula. Why should you try and take it to the NBA and have some overpaid schmuck screw it up? I'm still hoping you don't win the NCAA next year. I can respect you though, especially when you say stuff like this:
We have great kids who go to school, who graduate. If we're going to be despised or hated by anybody because we go to school and we want to win, you know what, that's your problem. Then you have a problem, because we're going to go to school and we're going to try to win. You don't like it? Keep drawing pictures. Just keep drawing pictures. Try to do them a little bit better than that, though.
Right now, I am in basketball heaven, as I hope every die-hard basketball fan is. The NBA is coming into its home stretch and the games are starting to heat up. I just watched a documentary on Reggie Miller single-handedly dismantling the Knicks (damn him to all hell for that one). But the most prevalent thing, because it just so happens to be March, is the 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament. 65 (should be 64) teams get to duke it out for the chance to call themselves the best team in college basketball. That means for the next 3 weeks, you will be able to live, speak and breathe basketball. That makes me happy. Anyways, rather than show you my bracket, I decided to throw together a preview. Let's check out the players to look out for, overrated teams, sleeper teams, and who I think the National Champ will be...
Players to Look Out For
Scottie Reynolds - Villanova University
Scottie's been flying under the radar since coming back for his senior year at Villanova, but everyone knows he can light any squad up since dropping 40 on UConn as a freshman (SMH at the Huskies for not making the tourney). Since he's projected as a undersized combo guard at the next level, he's been working a lot on his PG skills, and it's show in the way Nova plays. The offense now runs through him, instead of off him. Even so, he is going to surprise some people this year, and probably help his draft stock too...
Isaiah Thomas - University of Washington
This guy could easily be the x-factor that turns Washington into a Cinderella. Isaiah Thomas, along with being the namesake of one of the best PG's to play the game (let's see who debates that), is as quick as a hiccup and really grew up having to lead a young Washington team. The fact that they are even in the tournament is a testament to how good this guy is. I liken him to Nate Robinson (another UW product), but less of a gunner and a better point guard. He took home the Pac-10 Tourney's Most Outstanding Player Award and for good reason. Look out for Thomas to be a bracket-buster...
Evan Turner - Ohio State University
For all of the talk about John Wall and Xavier Henry or whoever else as the best player in college basketball, there is one player who should be getting more shine than all of them. Junior, Evan Turner broke his back halfway through the season, came back and essentially willed his team towards the Big 10 title this year (if you saw 'the shot' you know what I'm talking about). This guy is the second coming of Brandon Roy and is the only player I can remember in the past decade to put up more than one triple-double in a college basketball season. He can score from anywhere and is a ridiculous ball-handler. I would not be surprised if this man could will his team to the Final Four and shock EVERYBODY...
Overrated Teams:
Duke Blue Devils
I say it every year, but somehow Coach K's team always seems to prove me wrong by sheer acts of God that I couldn't possibly comprehend. Whatever the case, for the past few years, Duke has been teetering on the brink of being good and overrated, and this year might be the year the Cameron Crazies get shocked. Duke's brand of basketball, while efficient and textbook, gets them into trouble when facing more athletic and better defensive teams (ask Maryland). While Scheyer, Singler and the rest of the Blue Devils are experienced and can shoot, they tend to get rattled when under intense defensive pressure, or when they're forced to play an uptempo game. Both of those tend to happen in the NCAA Tournament. I'm not saying the Dukies are going to get ousted in the first round, but don't be surprised if one of those tough Big East teams from their division takes a bite out of them...
Michigan State Spartans
Last year, they got trounced by 17 by the UNC Tarheels, and this year they made it back into the tourney as a 5-seed, undoubtedly weaker. The Spartans suffer from two ailments that make me doubt their legitimacy: 1) Players with no upside who came back & 2) a bunch of BAD in-conference and out-of-conference losses. Though Tom Izzo has a lot of magic to throw on the court during March, there are too many question marks with the Spartans this year. In addition to that, they're going to be playing in the toughest division in the tournament, against GA Tech, Georgetown, Ohio State, Maryland and the #1 team Kansas. If Michigan State is going to win, they'll probably have to get hot and run into a team on a slump, but I don't see it happening...
Sleeper Teams:
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech's always been one of my favorite squads simply because Paul Hewitt is one hell of a coach. While his teams are always young (too many one-and-doners) they are always among the most athletic and best defensive teams in the country. They defeated a very hot Maryland Terps team to get them into the ACC Championship Game, then put a huge scare into the Duke Blue Devils a few nights ago. The two things that will make or break this team are turnovers and free throws. That's it. If the Yellow Jackets keep their turnovers low, and focus enough to hit a respectable FT percentage (they're shooting an abysmal .643 this year), then they will upset a few teams...
West Virginia Mountaineers
I'm a die-hard UConn fan, so this pick is the ultimate in conflict for me. However, after winning the Big East Tournament, WVU really made a believer out of me. Alongside Syracuse (shouts to John & Meezy at Swaggerdap), they were probably the most consistent team this side of Kansas and Kentucky. Also, the Mountaineers have an extremely experienced rotation. All of the players are at least sophomores and know how to play defense under Bob Huggins. They should be very wary of how many 3-pointers they take, since they live and die by that. Other than that caveat, this team is going to make a lot more noise than people expect. Is it a Big East bias?? Yes. But when the best conference actually is the Big East, what can you really expect??
The National Champions
Kansas Jayhawks
This wasn't that hard of a decision, although most people would pick Kentucky over the Jayhawks. Kansas has two experienced upperclassmen in Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrige, an amazing freshman scorer in Xavier Henry, and a deep team of role players. Coach Bill Self has been in the big games before, so he's not going to be sweating it. The only thing I would say against Kansas is that the Midwest division is definitely the hardest in the tournament with GA Tech, Georgetown, Ohio State, Maryland and Michigan State all gunning. However, Kansas has proven itself time & time again, and breezed through their conference tourney, so it's hard seeing them losing...
There you have it people... The tournament should be pretty exciting this year, despite a few high-profile snubs. Look for last second shots, huge performances and all the emotion that people say is missing from the professional game. Oh and by the way, if you want to get in on a bracket pool, hit the e-mail link to the left. Let the games begin!!!
