Sporots

[bao]

No I wasn't arguing I was agreeing.

Sorry, did not at all mean to make it sound like I was disagreeing. Just proving our point.

Regarding Chicago: there has been a lot of ink spilled about recruiting in Chicago, basically saying that its the most difficult city in the US to recruit, because of the corrupt nature of the PSL and a bunch of overlapping AAU and city-wide leagues. In short, to recruit Chicago you have to work through several layers of middle men, all of whom will want favors. As a result, no school has ever locked down Chicago. I suspect the same could be said of other big cities, though.

I used to teach at Depaul, and I can say two things: that school spends money as willingly as Jack Benny (comedy related) -- they skimp on everything (most of the faculty are adjuncts); and their basketball facilities are atrocious (and tiny). However, the school is located in a very dense part of a very nice neighborhood (Lincoln Park), and everything is pretty tightly packed in -- not sure where they'd go to expand, but it would be super expensive either way.

[funkyrhino]

Sorry, did not at all mean to make it sound like I was disagreeing. Just proving our point.

Regarding Chicago: there has been a lot of ink spilled about recruiting in Chicago, basically saying that its the most difficult city in the US to recruit, because of the corrupt nature of the PSL and a bunch of overlapping AAU and city-wide leagues. In short, to recruit Chicago you have to work through several layers of middle men, all of whom will want favors. As a result, no school has ever locked down Chicago. I suspect the same could be said of other big cities, though.

I used to teach at Depaul, and I can say two things: that school spends money as willingly as Jack Benny (comedy related) -- they skimp on everything (most of the faculty are adjuncts); and their basketball facilities are atrocious (and tiny). However, the school is located in a very dense part of a very nice neighborhood (Lincoln Park), and everything is pretty tightly packed in -- not sure where they'd go to expand, but it would be super expensive either way.

I've heard multiple stories about Davis' recruitment out of Chicago. In fact the Sun did a report about it that was quickly taken down. I'll say this much, in the history of collegiate sports there has never been a program or coach who has pulled back to back to back #1 recruiting classes (something UK is doing and targeted to do again); and as a former player told me it doesn't happen unless there is something shady going on behind the scenes. If UK gets Shabazz and Noel it will give them 4 straight #1 recruiting classes - somethings USC, OSU, Florida hasn't done in football nor UK, Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc in basketball. And I have family in Lexington that tell me there is some big money under the table thrown around. But hey it's not what you know it's what you can prove.

[Couldn'tThinkOfaName]

To suggest UK are doing something shady and everyone else isn't is kind of ridiculous. I think a lot of it comes down to Calipari. He seems to embrace the reality of the one and done/age limit landscape. He doesn't spout much bullshit about student athletes, or the beauty of amateurism. He seems perfectly okay with the idea that his job is to prepare these guys for the NBA, that they wouldn't even be here were it not for the age rule. When you're recruiting top guys, that model seems to make sense. If you're a mid major with shitty graduation %, that's a different story. When it comes to the top-top level recruits, I don't really have much of a problem with them taking full advantage of a situation so transparantly exploiting them.

[darrylduffy]

Since DarrylDuffy's been MIA, I figured I'd set up an AST NCAA Bracket Group.

http://tournament.fantasysports.yaho...eam?GID=125648

Password is "sporots"

sorry guys! i ended up in one with scamboogah anyways and did pretty terrible but still have Kentucky and Ohio State in the final so that's good I guess.

[scamboogah]

I'm going to finish dead last in both of my NCAA brackets.

But at least I'll have the dignity that comes with not going chalk. (This is what I tell myself every year when I finish in dead last)

[funkyrhino]

To suggest UK are doing something shady and everyone else isn't is kind of ridiculous. I think a lot of it comes down to Calipari. He seems to embrace the reality of the one and done/age limit landscape. He doesn't spout much bullshit about student athletes, or the beauty of amateurism. He seems perfectly okay with the idea that his job is to prepare these guys for the NBA, that they wouldn't even be here were it not for the age rule. When you're recruiting top guys, that model seems to make sense. If you're a mid major with shitty graduation %, that's a different story. When it comes to the top-top level recruits, I don't really have much of a problem with them taking full advantage of a situation so transparantly exploiting them.

I'm not saying everyone else isn't, I know for a fact that it went down at my school because some of my friends played on the team...yet a friend of mine who played for our championship team and is good friends with a former Calipari assistant basically said 'he has it made when it comes to recruiting because he has strong connection with one William Wesley and everything is handled under the table. Basically he said there was very shady things going down there but it's just too hard to prove without a paper trail. This comes straight from the mouth of one of his assistants (who also had a son who was the top recruit in the nation in 2001 and went to Memphis) or as he put it "that isn't just a friendship based on being good friends"
You're talking a coach who made sure that the third time Derrick Rose took his SAT he was going to pass with flying colors in a different state - they just had to find the right person to take the test. Everything is a sequence of smart plays...you start to
wonder why Roy Williams said no thanks to John Wall and backed off Anthony Davis.

What is probably going down there now is similar to what was going on under Hall/Sutton...like Rex Chapmans brand new Camaro right after he walked on campus, and Eric Manuals package that accidently fell open revealing a stack of cash. But in this case everything is handled much more tightly.

[Itslikeimsayin]

Do bao and the other basketball-savvy ASTers agree or disagree with the Spurs retiring Bruce Bowen's jersey? I just saw that they did so and was shocked. Go Titans! (CSUF)

[bao]

Do bao and the other basketball-savvy ASTers agree or disagree with the Spurs retiring Bruce Bowen's jersey? I just saw that they did so and was shocked. Go Titans! (CSUF)

Does he objectively deserve to have his jersey retired? Probably not. But if I'm a Spurs fan, I love this. He was the glue guy and a fan favorite on three championship teams, and the guy that galvanized the rest of the league's hatred of the Spurs (which was pretty lukewarm, outside of Bowen).

To me, its about the same as the Pistons retiring Vinnie Johnson's number. VJ will likely not show up on many 50 greatest lists, but we absolutely loved him in Detroit, because he sacrificed minutes and numbers to win two titles.

Did he wear one of his stupid, embarrassing bow ties to the ceremony?

PS Does this mean he'll replace Kevin Federline as "the Pride of Fresno"?

[slothborn]

Did he wear one of his stupid, embarrassing bow ties to the ceremony?

[Itslikeimsayin]

PS Does this mean he'll replace Kevin Federline as "the Pride of Fresno"?

CSUF is Cal-State Fullerton.

[bao]

CSUF is Cal-State Fullerton.

I know, but Bowen is from Fresno. No self-respecting Fullertonian would ever wear a dumb, ridiculous bow tie.

[isoS]

It's definitely odd, but as a guy who would join a group (or maybe start one) in support of Derek Fisher's number being retired in LA, I have to allow it. (PS: I will be shocked if the Lakers retire Fisher's jersey, but they have overcrowded rafters -- the Spurs not so much.)

[bao]

Check this out. Its a veritable "who's that?" of NBA greats:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...jersey_numbers

While I can't speak for the Bingo Smiths and Tom Mescherys of the 1970s, please allow me two words: Brad Fucken Davis? If Brad Davis gets his number retired (and Junior Bridgeman?), somebody tell Mehmet Okur to start writing his acceptance speech.

And I hope Scammy will agree that if Nate McMillan can get his number retired in Seattle, there is no argument against Bruce Bowen.

Also, did the Blazers just retire the jerseys of the whole 1977 championship team? Or were they just swayed by Larry Steele and Dave Twardzik's gaudy numbers?

[jesterobobman]

As a basketball fan, Bowen absolutely did not deserve his number retired. He was a slightly above average player who happened to play alongside Duncan, Ginobili, etc. He was a significant part of 3 title teams, but I feel the bar should be set above really good role player in having your number retired, though that hasn't stopped any teams in the past.

As a Spurs fan, I love it.

[slothborn]

I had to resist making an unfunny, played out joke about Bowen slipping his foot under the presenter's foot at the jersey retirement ceremony.

[funkyrhino]

I wish Vitale, Barkley and others would stop asking if UK (or any top college team for that matter) could beat the worst NBA teams like the Wizards. It's a dumb question...the games wouldn't be close. The Bobcats for example average 87 points a game, the Wizards average 93 both against NBA talent. UK averages 77 against collegiate talent. They have 4 maybe 5 NBA players on their team. Each NBA team has 13 NBA players. I don't care if it's the 1984 Hoyas, the 1990 Running Rebels, the 1996 Wildcats or the 2009 Tar Heels, every single one of those teams would get beat by 15-20 easily by the Wizards or whoever else.

[scamboogah]

It's not like having your jersey retired is some sort of official, NBA-sanctioned recognition of how good you were. It's the one thing that the team and its fans have total control over.

If Spurs fans really loved Bruce Bowen, why not retire his number? He's most likely not going to the Hall of Fame or anything, so why not? It's not like the Spurs are running out of numbers because their rafters are so clogged with greatness.

As for Mac 10, is his number retired in Oklahoma City? How does that work? When the Sonics come back, I'd like to see his number replaced in the rafters with the number of illegitimate children of Shawn Kemp (10 and rising!)

[TimBuktu]

Can anyone honestly say that Kevin Love isn't first team All-NBA at this point. He had 41-19 last night. I know Blake is flashier, and I know Dirk has been around longer... but come on. He's leading the league in scoring for the month of March and is second in rebounding. He's 4th in the league in scoring for the year, 1/10th of a point below LeBron and he's averaging 14 boards a game. The guy is ridiculous. I know he doesn't jump high, but...

[scamboogah]

He's really good, but you're making the case that he's better than LeBron James or Kevin Durant, and that's insane.

[TimBuktu]

Per Elias, the only player in the last 15 years with more pts & reb in a month than Love (469/211) was Shaq (499/218) in March 2001. There's still one game left.

" In the month of March, Love is now averaging over 31 points a game. When was the last time we saw that from someone who wasn’t named Kobe, LeBron or KD?"

"his total of 30-and-15 games this season to 10, which is more than the rest of the League combined. "

http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012...of-mvp-honors/