Tag:Dear Gary Mailbag
Posted on: November 23, 2009 3:18 pm
Edited on: November 23, 2009 3:20 pm
Score: 142
Dear Gary (on Delvon Roe and Derrick Nix)
Here's Monday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: Can Delvon Roe get some love now? After you called him out last week, he responded with two double-doubles over the weekend. He grabbed 17 boards on Sunday and played like a man possessed. Also, could you call Derrick Nix out for his free throw shooting? Seemed to work for Delvon.
-- Greg
I didn't call out Roe in the Friday Look Ahead as much as I expressed how difficult it is to watch him struggle given that he was dynamite before injuries stalled his career. But either way, Greg, you're right. Roe was terrific this weekend, and he deserves to be highlighted for getting 10 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's win over Toledo and 10 points and 17 rebounds in Sunday's win over Valpo.
Like I said, terrific.
I was happy to see it.
As for Nix, man, I don't know what to tell you.
He's 1-of-16 from the line, and I'm not sure how someone who actually plays basketball could miss 15 of 16 free throws in his first four college games. I don't even play basketball, and I could do better. You could literally pull anybody out of the stands at the Breslin Center, and they could better. So I'm not sure what's going on. But if I can help by calling him out, consider it done. Dude is shooting 6.3 percent from the free throw line. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
Category: NCAAB
Posted on: November 17, 2009 1:51 pm
Edited on: November 17, 2009 1:56 pm
Score: 140
Dear Gary (on Memphis, Kansas and BBQ spaghetti)
Here's Tuesday's Dear Gary ...
Hey Gary: Considering the effects of Interstate BBQ on Rider's basketball team Friday night at Mississippi State (as noted in the 'Final Thought' in the Friday Look Ahead ), do you think Josh Pastner should consider having them ship an order of their best to St. Louis? Or is it going to take more than smoked pork and BBQ beans to make for a good game against Kansas Tuesday night?
-- Neil
Unless John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Darnell Dodson are delivering the meal and then throwing on Memphis jerseys and competing, I just don't think it'll be enough. The Tigers are double-digit underdogs for a reason. They're supposed to lose regardless of the meal. But, man, that BBQ spaghetti sure is nice.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag
Dear Gary (on waiting to sign late)
Here's Thursday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: Your column on kids waiting late to sign is way off base. What if the kid gets injured, blows his knee out? He loses a chance to have his education paid for! It's not worth the risk. What if he and his team have a bad year? Could also cost him a free ride!! Kids should not take this opportunity for granted!!
-- Braden
No coach is swayed by whether a kid's high school team has a bad year, and most don't even care if kids play high school basketball at all. Recruiting is done in the summer, via the AAU circuit. High school basketball is mostly irrelevant. Beyond that, the entire column was based on elite recruits, defined by me as Top 25 prospects. And there isn't a Top 25 prospect who would lose offers with a torn knee. It just wouldn't happen. Brandon Knight could break his right arm and blowout his left knee this weekend, and Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami and Syracuse would all leave scholarship offers on the table.
Honestly, can you name a Top 25 prospect who was injured and left stranded without a scholarship?
Has that ever happened?
I mean, ever in the history of college basketball?
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag
Dear Gary (on the ACC-Big Ten Challenge)
Here's Monday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: I just have one question for you: This year when the ACC again beats the Big Ten in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge for the 11th time in a row, will you change your rankings of the conferences? Also: Any early guess on Harrison Barnes' school or will we have to wait until a day or two before the announcement for that?
-- Chris
That's two questions, Chris.
But don't worry, I'll answer both.
First, let me say that the ACC-Big Ten Challenge is not the best way to determine which conference is superior because the outcome can be determined by favorable matchups for one league or homecourt advantages in particular games. So, no, I won't come back and change my rankings if the ACC wins the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. But I will adjust if, over time, the ACC proves better than the Big Ten in other obvious ways.
That much, I promise.
Either way, I really do think the Big Ten will win the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Here's the list of games:
- Penn State at Virginia (I'll take Penn State )
- Wake Forest at Purdue (I'll take Purdue )
- Northwestern at N.C. State (I'll take Northwestern )
- Maryland at Indiana (I'll take Maryland )
- Michigan State at North Carolina (I'll take North Carolina )
- Virginia Tech at Iowa (I'll take Virginia Tech )
- Illinois at Clemson (I'll take Clemson )
- Minnesota at Miami (I'll take Minnesota )
- Boston College at Michigan (I'll take Michigan )
- Duke at Wisconsin (I'll take Duke )
- Florida State at Ohio State (I'll take Ohio State )
Hooray!
Of course, I'm relying on Penn State and Northwestern to win road games, which can't be wise. But it's possible Michigan State could go to the Dean Dome and win, and Wisconsin should battle Duke given how the Badgers are usually tough at home. So I guess we'll see. But I absolutely believe the Big Ten is the better league this season. Most people agree with me.
As for Barnes, I'll be shocked if he doesn't pick Duke or UNC.
And that's why I'm ready to go ahead and take the ACC in the 2010 ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag
Dear Gary (on Indiana)
Here's Thursday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: What grade would you give Tom Crean at this point on the rebuilding process at Indiana? Also, how would you grade Hoosier fans' support and patience up to this point?
-- Mick
I'm not really into grades, so I'll stay away from that unless you'll let me offer an 'I' for Incomplete. But if your question is whether I believe Crean will get it turned around at Indiana, the answer is yes, absolutely. He's just too smart and too focused to be unsuccessful at a place like IU.
Speaking of, I spent some time with Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor a few weeks ago, and we got to talking about Crean. Remember, Taylor signed with Crean at Marquette, then got a release when Crean went to Indiana and later enrolled at Kansas. So that's the connection. Anyway, we were talking about Crean, and Taylor said nothing but great things. He wasn't mad that he was put into a bad spot by Crean's departure, wasn't negative at all. He just talked about how much he liked Crean, and basically said there's no doubt he'll get it going at Indiana, in time.
And that's what I believe, too.
But it's going to take three years, at least.
Category: NCAAB
Dear Gary (on the Syracuse loss)
Here's Wednesday's Dear Gary (courtesy of a distraught Syracuse fan who emailed late Tuesday) ...
Dear Gary: After taking my anger out at the bar and trying as hard as possible to make this email legible, I am coming to you for advice. I am a Jet, Met and Knick fan. Clearly, sports have failed me my whole life. I am also a die hard Syracuse college basketball fan, (notice I didn't include college football even though I've been to every football game this season), and tonight my college basketball season just ended before it ever began. I am writing to now to ask: What the hell is left in my life to possibly look forward to?
-- Gregory
Probably nothing.
That's the harsh reality.
But I would like to remind you that it can't possibly get worse than losing to a Division II school from across town, if only because Syracuse isn't playing any more Division II schools from across town. So in that sense, things are looking up. But in all seriousness, this isn't going to be as bad as you think or as bad as it was Tuesday night.
I can't find proof right now (I've been looking for 15 minutes), but I believe UMass lost an exhibition in the 1995-96 season, then went on to make the Final Four. Grand Valley State famously beat Michigan State in an exhibition two years ago, and the Spartans still made the Sweet 16. So losing a game like this isn't necessarily a prediction of what's coming, but it does suggest the Orange will miss Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris more than some wanted to acknowledge.
Anyway, I guess my advice is to take a deep breath and relax.
Or get another drink.
And just know that Syracuse is still going to be a team capable of making the NCAA tournament.
As for the Mets, man, I don't know what to tell you.
Hang in there.
And it's too bad you weren't alive to enjoy the Doc/Darryl years.
Those were good times.
Category: BBD
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag, Syracuse
Dear Gary (on the Pac-10 getting three bids)
Here's Monday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: I cannot believe that the Pac-10 will receive only three bids to the tournament. The league is always underrated.
-- Tobin
Why is it so hard to believe that the Pac-10 might only receive three bids?
(The SEC only got three last season.)
I mean, we know Washington and California will be good, and UCLA is still UCLA and Ben Howland is still Ben Howland. But beyond that, I don't know why anybody would put another Pac-10 school in the field.
Could a fourth emerge?
Perhaps.
But I can't see why one should be projected to emerge, not at this point.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag
Dear Gary (on Vandy)
Here's Monday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: If Vandy finishes 5th in the East I will eat my hat. They smoked North Carolina [Sunday in a scrimmage]. ... Bottom line, they are going to be totally balanced, experienced, hungry, etc. It's Stallings best team he has ever had. Florida and USC are not interchangeable with Vandy, you should know better, and I like you. Vandy has a better shot at finishing 1st than 5th....Guess we wait till February to get your apology.
-- Adam
Vanderbilt fans sure don't follow directions well. Here's what I wrote in Monday's SEC preview: "Hold the e-mails, Vanderbilt fans. I know the Commodores could be better than this, understand I'm likely to look stupid for picking them fifth in the East. I don't need you to remind me."
So the Vandy fans read that, and guess what they did?
They spent all day reminding me!
All. Freaking. Day.
Again, I understand this is the prediction I'm most likely to regret, and you don't have to wait till February for an apology because I've pretty much offered it in advance. Please accept it. But with that said, it's not like the Commodores were on the verge of greatness last season and are necessarily worthy of the benefit of the doubt. They went 8-8 in the SEC, lost to Alabama in the SEC tournament and finished 19-12. Nothing special about that. So while I realize everybody is back and freshman John Jenkins is supposed to be great, basically writing that I think Vandy will fight with South Carolina and Florida for third in the SEC East isn't the craziest thing ever written.
Will I be wrong?
Perhaps.
Just like I might be wrong about Mississippi State winning the West.
And if I'm wrong, I'll acknowledge it.
I almost always do.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag, Vanderbilt
Dear Gary (on Halloween)
Here's Friday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: This year I am going to be John Calipari for Halloween. I have promised my children to go trick-or-treating in their grandparents' neighborhood. But I just got an offer to go to my buddy's neighborhood, and my buddy has a keg of Boulevard Pale Ale. What the hell, I'm John Calipari, right? I am going to my buddy's house and bringing my kids with me. Screw Grandma and Grandpa. I hope I get my ass handed to me by Kansas again, too.
-- Dane
Happy Halloween, folks.
Be safe.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag
Dear Gary (on the term 'Non-BCS')
Here's Thursday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: BCS=Bowl Championship Series......Explain to me where Bowls play a part of college basketball???
-- Dale
For the millionth time, I use the terms "BCS" and "non-BCS" because they are defined terms about which nobody can argue. The more common approach is "Major" and "Mid-Major," but I'm not going to call Xavier a "mid-major" just because it plays in the Atlantic 10. Xavier doesn't spend like a mid-major, recruit like a mid-major or perform like a "mid-major," and the school takes offense to the term, as well it should. Xavier is not a mid-major. But Xavier can't argue with the term "non-BCS" because Xavier does not play in a BCS league. So if nothing else, my terms make it clear exactly who I'm talking about and who I'm not talking about, and that makes them worthwhile.
Beyond that, don't think for a second that the BCS doesn't affect basketball.
It absolutely does.
I was talking to a coach from a non-BCS league just the other day, and he was discussing all the disadvantages he faces. "We can't travel like the BCS schools travel, and we can't schedule like they schedule," he said. "And we can't get on TV, either. It makes it hard to compete."
I wrote a column about all this a few months ago.
Click this link to check it out.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag
Dear Gary (on 'Glee' and Drake and Izzo and Indy)
Here's Wednesday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: Your "Californication" example got me thinking: any opinion on "Glee"? Perfectly acceptable show to watch, or teen fodder only? Also, if you're a recruit, which impresses you more: Drake at UK or Tom Izzo's F1 entrance?
-- Ben
I've never watched a single minute of "Glee," so I could be speaking unintelligently here. But everything I've read and heard suggests it's not something that would interest me, nor is it something that should interest anybody in their 30s. Best I can tell, it's a show trying to cash-in on the success of the "High School Musical" franchise, which is fine. But I can't imagine I'll ever be involved, for better or worse.
My answer: Teen Fodder only.
As for the Midnight Madness comparisons, I think Drake visiting UK is more impressionable on recruits than Izzo driving an Indy car unless you tell me the average basketball prospect is a Scott Dixon fan. Short of that, go with the rapper. Always go with the rapper.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag
Dear Gary (on my hair)
We're going to (re)start the daily dose of Dear Gary with the question I get more than any other.
It comes from Magee.
But really, it comes from all of you, all the time.
Dear Gary: Why are you a 32-year-old with a stupid haircut?
-- Magee
The truth is that my hair has pretty much been all over the place for a while, since back when I was younger and thinner and whatever. It was more "stylish" then. Hip, in fact. But I eventually let it get longer and wilder for some reason I can't quite remember, and then it sort of became my signature -- proof being how Memphis Sport Magazine voted me "Best Hair in Memphis" a few years ago (John Calipari finished second).
At that point, I was stuck.
I had to keep the hair lest my fans be disappointed.
But I finally came to the realization over the past year that I look like a freaking idiot. So I cut my hair short during the offseason and tried to live life as a normal human, and then guess what happened? People stopped recognizing me. And not just strangers, but college basketball coaches I've known for years. I had short hair all July during the recruiting period, and coaches would have to do a double-take before they even said hello. It was strange. I felt like I had lost my identity. So I grew my hair back out, ASAP, and now I'm back to looking like the same idiot I've looked like for the past few years (give or take a beard).
So why do I have this stupid haircut, you ask?
Because without it I'm nobody.
And I'd rather be a somebody who looks stupid than a nobody who looks normal.
Or something like that.
(Yes, I know I need therapy.)
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Dear Gary Mailbag
Dear Gary (on Blake Griffin's future plans)
Here's Friday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: Congratulations to Blake Griffin (for winning the straw poll). I heard he is staying. Is that true?
-- Killac
Stay?
Stay where?
At best, Griffin will stay at Oklahoma for another six or eight weeks. After that, he'll be gone, and if somebody really told you otherwise you should stop listening to them. Forever. Because they don't know what they're talking about.
Category: NCAAB
Dear Gary (on UD last season and SMC this season)
Here's Thursday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: The situation is a little different because Patrick Mills will return before the NCAA tournament, but wouldn't Dayton's situation last year with Chris Wright be the most comparable? The Flyers were left out despite that when Wright was healthy they were clearly (good enough to earn an at-large bid).
-- Mike
The problem with Dayton last year is that Wright missed the final 15 games of the regular season -- plus the Atlantic 10 tournament -- with a broken ankle, meaning that on Selection Sunday the committee had no choice but to judge Dayton on what it was without Wright. Best I can remember, Wright wasn't even cleared to return to practice until after Selection Sunday, and he missed the Flyers' first-round NIT game against Cleveland State. So there's no way Dayton should've been included in the NCAA tournament based on its success with Wright because by all accounts he would not have been available for a first-round game in the NCAA tournament.
The Mills situation is much different.
Mills has already been cleared to return to action.
He'll play this weekend in the West Coast Conference tournament.
Then he'll have another 10 days after that to get ready for the NCAA tournament.
And that's why I think -- and I've explained this in a column and in the blog -- that it's safe to assume Mills will be at or close to 100 percent by the time the NCAA tournament begins, because he will have had more than two weeks from the moment doctors cleared him to prepare for the NCAA tournament, and that should be plenty of time. Consequently, SMC should be viewed as the 18-1 team it was when he went down, because anything that happened without him is irrelevant when you consider the Gaels won't have to play without him anymore.
Category: NCAAB
Dear Gary (on the Saint Mary's column)
Here's Wednesday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: The NCAA claims it seeds based on players being hurt and players coming back. Like in 2001 when they gave Cincinnati a No. 2 seed because Kenyon Martin was out for the year. If they follow that trend, Saint Mary's has to be in. I think because it's a mid-major program they might not get the benefit of the doubt, but I will be rooting for them on Selection Sunday.
-- Marc
I've received a bunch of emails on my Saint Mary's column .
Some have been positive.
Some have been negative.
But I really don't understand the debate.
Again, there isn't a person in the world who would've told you Saint Mary's wasn't an NCAA tournament team when Patrick Mills broke his hand. The Gaels were 18-1 and -- here's the key, to me -- dominating at Gonzaga when Mills went down. And though I know the 18-1 wasn't against a tough schedule -- remember, I ripped Saint Mary's for its non-league schedule -- I think we saw all we needed to see in that one half of basketball at Gonzaga. Mills was the best player on the court, Saint Mary's was the better team, and suddenly it was clear that the 18-1 record belonged to a good team as opposed to an average team merely beating up on out-classed opponents.
So what the selection committee should do is ask itself the following questions:
1. When Mills was healthy, was Saint Mary's an NCAA tournament team?
2. Will Mills be healthy when the NCAA tournament begins?
If the answers to both of those questions are 'Yes' -- and they should be -- then it's nonsensical to keep Saint Mary's out because of the 6-4 record it managed in games where Mills played less than 20 minutes (i.e., the first Gonzaga game) or not at all because of the broken hand (i.e., every game to date since the first Gonzaga game). The Saint Mary's team that lost those games isn't the Saint Mary's team that'll play in the NCAA tournament any more than the Oklahoma team that lost to Kansas (sans Blake Griffin) is the Oklahoma team that'll play in the NCAA tournament.
Should OU be penalized for losing to KU without Griffin?
Absolutely not.
Based on that logic, Saint Mary's shouldn't be penalized for losing without Mills, either.
Swear to God, I will argue this point until I die.
And I don't plan on dying young.
Category: NCAAB
