NBA Draft recap- UPDATED

I found this Oden pic from a worldpress blog. There's also a breakdown of draft picks by schools from 1947 to today. Here's the direct link and here's the blog homepage. Good stuff...

From yahoo.com:
Round 1
Round 2

Jermareo was selected with the #36 pick by Golden State... good luck to him there. Good luck to him in Charlotte too :)

It's early, but I think my hometown Atlanta Hawks finally got this draft thing right. They got 2 players ready to contribute right now in Horford and Law. Heck, they might be the 2nd and 3rd best players on the team RIGHT NOW.

I'll add more later...

More (2:25PM):

- As Hville pointed out in comments, JD was traded to Charlotte. It's a lot closer to Atlanta, but Golden State was the place where Latrell Sprewell made a name for himself (on the court). I'd be lying if I told you I knew much about the Bobcats outside of Wallace and Sean May, so someone smarter than me (or at least more educated on the NBA Bobcats) can add whether or not they think JD makes the team.

- SEC Draft picks:
3 First Round Picks (all from Florida). Horford (3), Brewer (7), and Noah (9) are all top 10 picks. I can't think of a college team with that many in the top 10 in the history of the NBA Draft. I think North Carolina had 4 first round picks 2 years ago (2005 draft). Verified... 4 in the top 15.

Overall the SEC had 8 drafted. The 2nd round picks in order were Glen Davis (35) by Seattle (traded to Boston), Jermareo Davidson (36) by Golden State (traded to Charlotte), Chris Richard (41) by Minnesota, Derrick Byars (42) by Portland (traded to Filthadelphia), and Taureen Green (52) by Portland.

Josh McRoberts dropped to the 2nd round? I thought he was (according to the gurus) a mid to late 1st rounder. Can I use "FINAL TRAGIC BLUNDER" in this case?

I noticed that Stephane Lasme (UMass) was drafted by Golden State with the 46th pick. You know him from that dominating performance against us in the Not Invited Tournament first round game. It's probably a good thing JD was traded to Charlotte as Lasme would've been tough to beat out for a roster spot.

That's all I got... feel free to add comments as I readily admit I don't follow the NBA anymore (except for the highlights on Sportscenter... at times).

NBA News

Gerald Wallace is making the move to become an unrestricted free agent in an effort to land a contract along the lines of 6 years and $10+ million per year.

His agent is Rob Pelinka. Sound Familiar? He was the token white shooting guard on Michigan's Fab Five teams of the early 90's. It also sounded from the article that Wallace and the Bobcats management would like to get a deal done, especially since the Bobcats are way under the cap.

Also, Robert Horry, who turns 37 in August, has already told the Spurs front office he wants to put off his retirement plans to return for one more season. Maybe Ring #8 is in his future after all. This should shake out within the next month or so...

I don't remember if anyone has said anything on this blog yet, but a belated congratulations to Big Shot Bob on Ring #7. Hopefully another season will seal his legacy and get him into the NBA HOF.....

Also, according to the New York Daily News, the Bucks are willing to re-sign Mo Williams at $7 to $8 million per year, but the point guard's looking for a starting number around $9 to $10 million. He made $1.92 Millon last season.

Playing Time Projections from Hunter Johnson

Hunter is a current student who is among the most devoted fans of Bama Basketball that I have ever known. He is a Marks Madness officer, a good friend to several of the players, and attends just about every game every year, even those on the road. He watches the players in pickup games during the summer. (I think they even let him join with them when they are bored.) He knows more about Bama Basketball than most of us old timers.

Hunter forwarded me the following projections and I am proud to post them here with his permission. (Flash, if you're out there it's okay for you to send a comment arguing with Hunter if you wish. :-)). I could not figure out how to cut and paste or attach Hunter's projections, so I have read them into the first comment to this post.

Edit- here's the cut and paste from comments:

Hunter's Projections:

I got bored in English class today, so I started thinking about how playing time is going to shake out for the basketball team this year. We have 9 players with quality SEC experience and 3 players who were recruited to play immediately. That gives us a 12-man playing rotation, even though Coach Gottfried has not normally ever played more than 8. If we are going to play more of an up-tempo style this year, I think playing 12 guys could be really good. UNC made it work pretty well last year. The only problem is guys getting their egos hurt due to lack of minutes. If everyone can buy into the up-tempo philosophy, I think it could be great. Here are my projections for how the minutes will divided. Also, I don't think it will be like this the first game or that we will play 12 guys every night. And this is a mixture of both what I would do and how I think it will pan out. This is how many minutes I think each player will average per game in SEC play and how many they averaged last year during league play in parentheses. Here it is:

Starters
G Ron Steele 30
G Brandon Hollinger 20
F Mykal Riley 24
F Alonzo Gee 24
F Richard Hendrix 27
Bench
G Senario Hillman 14
F Demetrius Jemison 17
G Mikhail Torrance 13
G Rico Pickett 10
G Justin Tubbs 12
C Justin Knox 6
F Yamene Coleman 3

Hopefully, Steele will be healthy enough to give us 30 minutes a game. I think Hollinger's minutes will decrease due to the newcomers giving us tremendous depth at guard. Riley played alot last year, probably because he was our only perimeter threat when Steele was hurt. Gee is going to have to play more, as he is our only perimeter player who can defend the post well. 27 minutes is good for Richard, but he might have to play more if we can't get much out of Knox and Coleman. I think Senario will be our first guy off the bench. He is a real athlete and will provide a threat to penetrate at the 2-guard, which is something we've never really had. Jemison is going to have to step up this year, on both ends. I think Torrance will play a good bit more this year, as he began to play more at the end of last season. It will all be about if he can run the offense, which is something he had trouble with last year. I think Rico is a solid player who can give us some good minutes this year which will serve him well, as I think he will start at the point in 08-09. Tubbs may play more than 12, as I think he will be relied on as a "zone-buster." Knox is going to be a really good player, and he already is at the high post, but he needs some time to develop a low post game. Yamene is a guy who I think could end up playing alot more minutes, or not at all. Alot of people don't know about a health problem he had last year and a medication he had to take. It made him very sluggish. If he can overcome that, then I still think could end up playing alot this year

Finally, a little recruiting blog.....

A decent article from of all people, Kevin Scarbinsky, of the B'ham News. Andrew Steele (John Carroll, B'ham) has some interesting decisions to make in the near future: football vs. basketball and to choose Alabama vs. anyone else.

Some thoughts about the article: First of all, Mr. Scarbinsky, it's Stanley Robinson, not Stanley Jefferson. For obvious reasons, I hope Andrew chooses basketball and Alabama. Also, Ron Sr. doesn't hold any punches by openly stating that he hopes Andrew chooses basketball and plays for Alabama. With Ronald being a Senior this year, the two brothers will never overlap on campus. Also, I know we missed by not landing Demarre Carroll, but with Andrew potentially being a package deal with the likes of Jamychal Green (St. Jude in Montgomery), we have to have a legit shot with these two. I truly hope these two guys are big buds with Xavier Gibson (Northview in Dothan)....

The Jermareo Show

Jermareo Davidson is currently living the nomadic life attending as many private workouts and pre-draft camps that he can squeeze in, in an effort to catch someone's attention and draft him higher than most experts currently see him: a late 2nd rounder.

The Jermareo Show

Talking point- Title IX at 35: Are College Sports Being Ruined?

I try not to stray too far from basketball news/opinions/breakdowns on this site, but I wanted to 'talk out loud' about Title IX and the state of college sports. Indulge me this one time.

First off, this isn't a topic that just came to me... I was watching HDNet World Report (Channel 77 on Directv) and they addressed this topic. Next time it's on (June 28th at 7PM EST) I'll DVR it .I'll put forth what I can remember from the story at this time.

Depending on who you talk to, Title IX is responsible for cuts in non-revenue sports (like fencing) or Title IX is being used as an excuse by athletic departments to justify cutting non-revenue sports and reallocating that money to the big ones (football and basketball). There's no shortage of examples of both sides, but in recent years it seems that it's more to generate a profit for the athletic department. They used Rutgers as an example... cutting the rowing team and some other sports on the heels of a successful football and women's basketball year. They also interviewed one of our favorites Wally Renfro for the piece.

Links for your reading pleasure:
TitleIX.org- The deeper I dug into this site the more I came away with "it's a thinly disguised feminist site."
Title IX according to the USDOJ- a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Maybe a lawyer can decipher it for me. (g)
Dennis Dood article from 2002 regarding Title IX- I found this to be a fair writeup.
Wikipedia on Title IX- Understand that anyone can edit this. Seems like a fair writeup as well.
Title IX questions of equality- "But when the shoe is on the other foot--as in Butler's case--things aren't exactly equal." Written by a woman finding flaws with Title IX... for men.

You can google for more info... of course whatever bias you have will determine what google brings back to you :)

My opinion:
- It seems to me that Title IX is being interpreted by college ADs as 'to maximize the big sports revenue we have to cut some non-revenue men's sports to be compliant.' It's the easy way out, but I understand they have to bottomline in regards to overall revenue. Football and basketball pay the bills, but also cost the most to run by far. With the cost to compete going up and up, look for more non-revenue sports to be cut in the coming years. That's a shame.

If there was an easy solution to the ongoing issue I'm sure someone would've come up with it. It's complicated... to balance women's and men's opportunities in sports and to generate/create revenue for the athletic department is a fine line to walk. Like I said earlier, I think most ADs take the easy way out. Of course the pressure from school administrators to maximize profits and boosters and fans to field a winner come into play in regard to budget cuts/reallocation of funds.

Let me address women's collegiate sports... I don't think I've ever watched more than one continuous minute in my life on TV. When I was in school I attended a couple of volleyball matches, but that was it. Outside of women's tennis (which is superior to men's tennis) I can't think of a professional women's sports I'd watch.

Saying that, I think women's sports are great for them. It builds character, leadership, and teamwork... all skills useful in the real world. There's no doubt that Title IX has helped millions of women. The question is at what cost to those non-revenue men's sports.

I don't have the answers... if I did I'd be filthy rich.

Article on Bamamag.com concerning Ronald Steele's status

There was an update on players on campus, including all three newcomers.

And most important, there was encouraging news about Ronald Steele. Steele, the Crimson Tide’s all-star point guard who was mostly a bench-warmer in his junior season. Following Bama’s disappointing 20-12 season, Steele had arthrscopic surgery on both knees. On April 3 Dr. Lyle Cain of the famed Dr. Jim Andrews surgical team repaired small cartilage defects in both knees.

“We’re coming up on 10 weeks since Ron Steele had surgery on both knees,” Gottfried said. “We got a report from Dr. Jim Andrews and Dr. Lyle Cain. Jim Andrews said Ron is doing very well. Ron has been released to do a little more -- shooting and light jogging. He is upbeat and positive. It is real encouraging. He is such a leader, the heart and soul of our team.”

From Bamamag.com

Hopefully we get the Ronald Steele of the 05-06 season... we shall see.

#1- The bestest basketball coach in the SEC is...

The great Eddie Munst... Billy Donovan. Actually, Alias sent his top 9 list in while Donovan was the Magic coach so he didn't list him #1, but I have to assume we're in agreement here.

Hville- with Tubby gone, there is no argument whatsoever. Even if Tubby was still at UK, to me it still wouldn't be an argument.

Bamahoops- Only 3 Final Fours, 3 championship game appearances, and 2 National Titles (not MNC like CFB)... he's ok I guess. Before the 2005 season some started to question Donovan as his teams underachieved in the NCAA tournament, but the last 2 years erased those memories. I'm not sold on him being a great gameday coach, but he's pretty good at the other aspects (motivation and recruiting). As long as he's there (and it seems like he'll be there at least another 5 years) the Gators will be near or at the top of the SEC. Damn.



If we compile averages, the crack staff here has them ranked 10 to 1 like this (average in parenthesis):

10) Dennis Felton (10- unanimous)
9) Andy Kennedy (8)
8) Dave Odom (7)
7) Jeff Lebo (6.33)
6) Rick Stansbury (5.67)
5) Mark Gottfried (5.33)
4) John Brady (4.33)
3) Bruce Pearl (4)
2) Kevin Stallings (3)
1) Billy Donovan (1)

Note- Billy Gillespie (Kentucky) and John Pelphrey (Arkansas) were not ranked as this season will be their 1st in the SEC. My opinion... Pelphrey will have more success at Arkansas than Gillespie at Kentucky.

Levi's Fall Ruins Discovery's Dauphiné Libéré Hopes

The Discovery Channel Team ("Disco") entered Sunday's final stage of the Criterium Dauphine Libre with one primary objective: to win the overall team classification. Disco had overcome Tom Danielson's withdrawal during the second stage due to illness, weak legs and conservative tactics during the entire tour to hold the overall team classification heading into Sunday's stage. Their team manager confided before Sunday's stage commenced that maintaining that team classification was their primary goal for the day.

Levi Leipheimer, winner of last year's Dauhpine and one of the favorites to contend for the Tour de France both this year and last, evidently saw a chance to grab a stage victory for his team and with fewer than 10 km to go so he sped off in a one-man break away. He was chased by two-stage winner and former race leader Alexander Vinokourouv ("Vino"). Vino rides for Team Astana. Astana has been riding aggressively and very successfully in almost every race this spring and they already had won three of the previous stages in the Dauphine. Vino probably would have caught Levi before the end of the race, but it still was good to see someone on the Disco team take a chance.

Unfortunately, Levi lost his bike on a rain slicked roundabout and Vino sped to the finish line 37 seconds ahead of the chasing group he and Levi had left behind just a few kilometers before. Levi evidently was not badly injured. He climbed back onto his bike and caught up to the chasing group to finish with them 37 seconds behind Vino. Unfortunately, that 37 seconds was enough for Team Astana to edge Disco out of the Overall Team Classification trophy.

Congratulations to Levi for having the guts to fail while endeavoring to accomplish something great. Here's hoping Team Discovery has learned that, at least during this racing season, fortune favors the bold and that they will adopt at least some aggressive tactics that will give at least one of their riders a chance to shine, if not win, in the Tour de France.

Final unclassmen entry list for NBA draft

Every year a bunch of kids get duped into thinking they're 1st round material. Others declare because school is just not for them (which I understand as college isn't for everyone). Anyways, the list is here.

Quick thoughts on some of those that stayed in the draft:

1) Aaron Afflalo (UCLA)- He could use another year at UCLA. I suspect he'll be the 2nd coming of Charles O'Bannon in the NBA. That's not a good thing.

2) Mike Conley (tOSU)- He's a lottery pick so he'd be stupid to stay. Saying that, I don't think he's all that good.

3) Daequan Cook (tOSU)- Projected in the mid 1st round so I don't blame him. IMO he has more promise at the next level than Conley.

4) Javaris Crittenden (Ga Tech)- In a league that drafts on potential instead of a body of work, he's virtually a 1st round lock. More than likely he won't have to leave the city as the Hawks need a PG in the worst way and could grab him with the 11th pick. He was up and down at Tech.

5) Jameson Curry (Oklahoma St)- He might be the only one (and his agent) that thinks he's ready for the NBA. No one else seems to think so.

6) Glen Davis (LSU)- He's the next Brandon Bass... and probably a 2nd round pick like his predecesor. He really should've come back.

7) Taurean Green (Florida)- The only Gator that should've gone back to Gainesville. Then again, he might've peaked.

8) Tack Minor (LSU)- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Good luck to him... I know he didn't have much of a choice.

Jermareo Davidson looks to be an early 2nd round choice (#36 according to some draft sites). Hopefully someone takes him in the 1st round so he gets that guaranteed 3 year check. Good luck to him.

Ranking the SEC basketball HCs... #2

Time for the runner up pick. We still can't agree on this.

Hville
John Brady (LSU)- The only other Final Four Coach besides Donovan. Only Brady could take Tyrus Thomas, redshirt him, and bring him in the next year and lead the SEC in rebouding and become a lottery pick.

Alias
- Kevin Stallings (Vandy)- Hey, we can't beat them!

Bamahoops
- Bruce Pearl (UT)- What he's accomplished in 2 short years with the Viles is pretty remarkable. Granted some of it has to do with Lofton, but his teams play hard for 40 minutes. They probably should've beaten Ohio State twice last year. Anyway, another couple of successful years in Knoxville will probably get him a promotion at a basketball first school.

Ranking the SEC Basketball HCs... #3

I'll make this short and sweet as the Yankees and Mets are about to play.... although the best interleague matchup this weekend is in SoCal between the Dodgers and Angels.

Alias
- Jeff Lebo (API)- He's done a lot with a little and has to recruit at a school that has been deemed irrelevant. Once he has the talent to run his program, bigger pocket books will come calling to take him out of our hair. Unfortunately, we are stuck with him for the next few years.

Bamahoops
- John Brady (LSU)- Truth be told he's only ranked this high because of a Final Four appearance last year. With the exception of last season, LSU has been at or near the top of the SEC West. His positives... keeping local talent and developing them. Negative- He's at best a medicore Xs and Os coach. Brady can live off that Final Four for another 2 years.

Hville
- Kevin Stallings (Vandy) - It's hard to get out of my head how much he has dominated CMG. They always play smart, shoot well, and hold their own in the post season. It's easy to forget that the SEC POY was at Vandy this year. To do what Stallings has done at Vandy is very respectable.

Team Astana Kicking Butt & Taking Names

Team Astana enjoyed its second 1-2 finish in today's fifth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. They also hold the race General Classification leader who was no where near the finish line when Colom and Vinakourov crossed the finish line together today.

Two tough stages remain and the race still might be decided on Saturday, but Astana now has two riders who could win the GC and are riding strong and with purpose. They also appear to be riding with the type of discipline and team orientation that is necessary to take full advantage of the aggressive tactics they have employed.

I hope Bamahoops does not mind these brief cycling intrusions, but I grow more infatuated with this sport with each passing day. In what other sport would the team leader allow his support staff to enjoy the glory of the stage win (the race course of that one day) and celebrate his victory with him?

Ettiquite does not always prevail, but Szmyd evidently pulled over and let Moreau take the stage two days ago because Szmyd had not helped until they got into the last two or three kilometers.

Hopefully all the doping problems will be behind us soon, because cycling, right behind hoops, appears to me to be the second ultimate team sport involving the greatest athletes in the world.

Ranking the SEC Basketball HCs... #4

The Final Four... whoohoo. Again, we can't agree on anything.

Hville
- Rick Stansbury (M$U)- As much as I hate placing him here, he is a good in-game coach, and keeps State as a legitimate threat almost every year. Here's hoping to a death penalty in the near future.

Alias
-Bruce Pearl (Tennessee)- At least Pearl knew to play Chris Lofton. CMG did not even have enough sense to play M. Riley!

Bamahoops
- Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt)- It's Vanderbilt and his teams are competitive. Vanderbilt and competitive are words not normally used in the same sentence (heck... paragraph). Besides, he totally owns CMG.

SEC News
- 2 Gators suspended on drug charges. Brandon Powell (basketball) and Brandon James (football) got busted buying weed. Oh no! Here's your link.

- UGA's Athletic Director Damon Evans comes up with an innovative way to make sure student athletes go to class. Unexcused absences get a $10 fine or game suspension. While I think it should be tweaked a little (say after 2 missed classes the fines begin) it's positively affected grades among UGA athletes. It's getting great press locally in the A.T.L.

Ranking the SEC basketball HCs... #5

To quote the great Bon Jovi, "Whooah, were half way there."

Bamahoops
- Mark Gottfried (Alabama)- He took over a program in shambles (thanks David Hobbs) and gradually built it back to a SEC contender. Saying that, his overall SEC record and postseason results are at best mediocre. Still, he would've been ranked higher if it wasn't for last year's monumental collapse. The jury's still out on CMG if you ask me and this coming season is his most important one to date.

Hville
- CMG (Alabama)- Did a good job of reviving our program, but our lack of post season production, SEC tourney included, leaves alot to be desired.

Alias
- Dave Odom (South Carolina)- I like Odom. I think he is a good coach at a school that is less irrelevant than API.

Off topic- I watched The Sopranos finale for a 2nd time yesterday and my conclusion is still the same. It was a copout ending. If I want to watch an artsy, fartsy show I'd tune into Oxygen. Series finales are supposed to tie up most loose ends, but the finale of The Sopranos left more questions than answers.

Ranking the SEC basketball HCs, #6

Doesss great playersss make great coachesss? Looking at the coaches we have listed at #6 you can make that argument.

Alias- Mark Gottfried- I would have ranked him much higher before last season. He could move up considerably in my biased eyes by being even a mediocre coach this year.

Hville- Bruce Pearl (Tennessee) - In Chris Lofton we trust. He knows how to revive a program, but I think teams have figured out how to play him.

Bamahoops- Rick Stansbury (Miss St)- the last couple of years haven't gone well for him. Maybe he's making a run at Dave Odom for NIT supremacy, who knows. I think he feels the heat if the Bulldogs don't make the NCAAs next season.

Two of the coaches at #6 have slipped from 2 years ago. I suspect both of them need to make a run at either the SECT or a run in the NCAAs to keep the fanbase from turning up the flames.

Counting down the top 10 coaches in the SEC... #7

This is not like counting down the 12 best coaches in the ACC or Big East... there's a huge underbelly in this conference.

Alias
- Coach $tan$bury (M$U) - He does seem to be a pretty good coach on the floor, but he cheats too much to merit real consideration.

I actually think $tan$bury does a good job of keeping his talent on the floor with enough discipline to have achieved considerable success both within and without the SEC. It's difficult enough to persuade young people to sacrifice for something bigger than themselves in the world today. It must be even more difficult when money is the only reason the best players are there. I suppose that doesn't make it any easier to motivate the blue collar players who are not being paid either.

If all the rumors are true, then $tan$bury must be a pretty good coach. I'd sort of like to see him coach in an environment that was not tainted by the rumors of paying players and where the school and its location were not such a hindrance to recruiting. I suspect he would do quite well. But neither of those factors exists, so I had to evaluate him based on what he has done where he is.

Bamahoops- Andy Kennedy (Ole Manning)- he did a good job with Barnes' bunch, but he's only been in the SEC one year. Finishing 2nd in the SEC West was a major surprise... mostly because LSU, Arkansas, and Alabama sucked eggs most of the year, but still it's an accomplishment. The jury's still out if he's an upgrade over Rod Barnes. I do know he's accomplished more in a year than Felton has in 4.

Hville
- Dave Odom (South Carolina) - At least he's won 2 NITs and coached Tim Duncan. (note- I mistakenly flip-flopped Hville's list at 7 and 8... corrected).

Other news (I'm too lazy to create a new post)
- Kobie Baker has officially been named as an assistant coach on CMG's staff. Yes, this has been rumored for 2 months. I still maintain this was an underwhelming hire, but hey... maybe it'll work out. Here's your link.

- The Orlando Magic granted Eddie Munster... uh.. Billy Donovan his release to return to the Gators (link). I think this seals the deal that Donovan will be in Gainesville for a long, long time. That's good for college basketball.

- Cyrus (achy breaky heart) McGowan transfers from Arkansas. He wasn't going to get PT next year so it was probably best for him.

Counting down the top 10 SEC coaches in the SEC... #8

I think the three of us are going to agree on the worst (Felton) and the best. The rest is open for interpretation.

Alias
- John Brady - He could be up with the unrated group but for his Final Four run. He keeps his talent in state and has a hot wife. That's the list of positive things I know that I can say about him.

Bamahoops
- Jeff Lebo- I'd like to rank him higher, but the fact remains that Auburn sucks. Lebo is a good X and O coach with no real talent to execute his gameplan. He coud move up the list next year. If he does, chances are he'll be in a new college town.

Hville
- Andy Kennedy (Ole Miss) - deserves credit for this year, but he benefitted from our complete and total collapse.

Counting down the top 10 coaches in the SEC... #9

Differing opinions on who is #9 in the SEC.

Hville
- Jeff Lebo (API)- even after API blows ~$100 million on an arena, they will never support him.

Alias
- Andy Kennedy (Ole Manning)- He still is a bigger unknown that Felton, that's why he's rated ahead of Felton.

Bamahoops
- Dave Odom ('Cocks)- I give him credit for consistency... always trying to be the 66th best team in the country. That's what "mid-majors" shoot for and I'm sure South Carolina strives for more.

I'm not sure what RGX bodyspray is, but their spokesperson makes me want to buy stock in their company. Let's be honest, you'd rather stare at this than an "action" pic of the great Jeff Lebo... right?

Buck Johnson elected into the Alabama Sports HOF

One of my favorite Bama players, Buck Johnson, is being enshrined tonight in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Since he now lives in Harvest (near Huntsville), the Times wrote a piece on him I thought you might enjoy.

Buck Johnson

Ranking the current SEC basketball coaches- #9... uh... make that 10

Thank you Billy Donovan for flip flopping... now I have to adjust the rankings. You'd think Eddie Munster would think of the consequences of flip flopping. Geez!

The crack "staff" here at bamahoops (g) have ranked the SEC basketball coaches from #10 to #1. Yes, there's 12 teams in the conference, but with 2 new HCs it's not fair to rank them so Gillespie and Pelphery get a pass. Actually, I ranked all of them, but Hville and Alias made a valid point so I changed my mind.

Anyhoo, your unanimous #10 HC in the SEC is...

Dennis Felton
- Alias- I don't know what kind of coach he is but his players are thugs.
- Bamahoops- The mess has been cleaned at UGA and still they're not very good. I don't expect them to be any better next season (which would be year 5).
- Hville- For obvious reasons (he sucks).

Let me add that I really thought Felton would work at UGA... heck he still might, but as of right now I think he's been a major disappointment. He HAS to take the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament or he'll probably be "fahred" at season's end. Maybe he's one of those coaches that excel in smaller conferences.

Decatur Daily interview with Rico Pickett

A couple of snippets:

Q: Have you talked to coach Mark Gottfried about some kind of off-season workout program?

A: Yeah, I asked him about it, but they haven't sent me one, so I'll get it when I get there.

Q: You talked about your shot. Is it the area you feel you need to most improve in?

A: Yeah, I feel like you can always improve on your shot. That's one of my biggest things. That and defense, but right now it's just working on my shot.

Q: Why did you choose Alabama in the first place?

A: Coach Gottfried. He seems like he would be a great coach to play for, by me just talking to him. It seems like he would be someone who I would enjoy playing for. Also, just the atmosphere in Tuscaloosa. I like how the fans get into it. And it is a good school to get a good education.

Pickett talks to the Decatur Daily

I really wish someone from the staff would've sent him an off-season S&C plan. I have to assume we got one... right? I do like how Pickett gives CMG the most credit for why he wanted to play here. Also, him understanding he could be a bench player to start is nice... and more than likely he will be unless we go to a 3 guard lineup (which is possible).

A good read... I know nothing about Pickett as a player, but he seems to say the right things. Oh yeah, kudos to Josh Cooper for writing something about the basketball team during the dead season. I for one appreciate it.