2011 NCAA Tournament

[Phil]

Butler's shooting was horrendous. Howard was awful. There is no excuse for Butler's offensive performance. It's like they forgot how to shoot the ball! Big disappointment.

 

[texasheat]

I agree with pretty much the group consensus on this one. I think 49 states were rooting for Butler tonight but they just flat didn't deserve to win it. When you end up with the worst shooting % in an NCAA final, it just wasn't meant to be. But still, it was a helluva year and I'm sure they converted even more fans over to their side with another great run in the tourney. GO BULLDOGS!!

 

[pistol pete]

Matt Howard hurt his draft stock. Maybe he uses this as motivation.
Kemba didn't shoot very well either.I think if Jimmer had Kemba's supporting cast then he would have won too.
Jimmer deserved the Player of the Year award. But Kemba's U Conn Huskies was the best TEAM in the country or at least the one on the biggest hot streak.

The difference between Jimmer and Kemba is basically a difference in styles. Jimmer will hit more long range bombs while Kemba will give you more cross-over dribbles and fancy (if superfluous) ball-handling.

With Jimmer getting the player of the year award, the biggest WINNER this weekend was...
Jimmer.

Any teams to root for next year? Howard, Harrelson, Hansbrough, and Fredette are going pro.

 

[Anak]

Any teams to root for next year? Howard, Harrelson, Hansbrough, and Fredette are going pro.

Wisconsin for sure, maybe Indiana

 

[guest301]

Any teams to root for next year? Howard, Harrelson, Hansbrough, and Fredette are going pro.

Wisconsin for sure, maybe Indiana

Duke with the three athletic Plumlee brothers and the very improved Ryan Clark.

 

[celticdb15]

Indiana has Cody Zeller coming next year and also an athletic wing\guard Austin Etherington. I like what Tom Crean is doing and I hope the Hoosiers make the tourney next year.


Iowa has 6'5 guards Josh Oglesby coming in along with 6'8 Aaron White. I like the way their new coach is heading as well.

Northwestern has a 6'1 PG recruit in David Sobolewski.

Notre Dame has a talented wing prospect in Patrick Connaughton

The Badgers have 6'10 Center Frank Kaminsky and 6'8 Jared Uthroff as commits.

As a whole root for the Big Ten!

 

[celticdb15]

Purdue has 6'8 PF Donnie Hale coming in. Michigan has a few white recruits coming in and Gonzaga is finally recruiting like they used to.

 

[GreatLakeState]

Only one of three U-M recruits is white, widebody post Max Bielfeldt from Illinois (interestingly, chose U-M over Illinois, when the athletic complex at Illiois is named for his family).

In 2012 though U-M already has a commitment from a stud guard,
6-5 Nik Stauskas, a Canadian via St. Mark's in Mass.

 

[GreatLakeState]

MSU doen't have any white in the 2011 recruiting class per se, but has 6-7 knockdown shooter Russell Byrd coming off a redshirt as is 6-9 half-White/half-Mexican Alex Gauna.

In 2012 MSU has a top 25 prospect in 6-9 Matt Costello, the Michigan Gatorade POY as just a junior, and a minimum top 100 in 6-7 Kenny Kaminski from Ohio.

 

[celticdb15]

Thanks for the insight GLS. I love thatmost of Big Ten schools take advantage of the white talent situated in the midwest. The Spratans should be fun to watch in the upcoming years and I look forward to seeing what Stauskus can do for the Wolverines.

 

[Deadlift]

Virginia is a program to keep an eye on, and they also have a verbal from a 2012 big: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Mike-Tobey-114635

And, a few Midwest bigs for 2012: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Mitch-McGary-86150

He's at Brewster Prep in New Hampshire, but he's from Indiana.
____________________

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Adam-Woodbury-97910

He has several intriguing offers.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Two of four Butler commits next year are white.

Gonzaga has four out of 5 white players this year I believe coming in.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Despite not being quite as good as last year, it was a solid year in college basketball overall despite Butler's loss in the NCAA finals. BYU made a Sweet 16 run (despite losing their best inside player) with arguably the top backcourt in the NCAA that featured player of the year Jimmer Fredette and underrated Jackson Emery. They took a #2 seeded Florida team to overtime in that Sweet 16 game. We had a handful of athletic white American players really make a name for themselves this year (who should get a shot at the NBA) like Ben Hansbrough, Kyle Kuric and few others.

Butler simply couldn't hit their outside shots in this game and when they did take it inside they had a lot of layups go around the rim and out or brick off the back board. I think Butler only made a RIDICULOUS three 2- point shots in the ENTIRE game. Howard had some shots that went into the basket and out including layups- he played a bad game, but lots of his misses were close. I think there were a few UConn blocks inside that got inside the Butler player's heads.

I agree with Deadlift that Andrew Smith was a real disappointment. He looked out of place and clumsy out there against Uconn's equally big, but more explosive and fluid bigs. Howard still looks like a solid late 1st round or very top of the 2nd round NBA prospect to me. I guess absolute best case scenario, Howard could wind up like Paul Milsap or David Lee (as a tough rebounding phenom undersized PF who scores much better than they expected inside at the NBA level) with better shooting range. A DeJuan Blair type inside? A less athletic Tyler Hansbrough maybe with better shooting range? I agree with PP that Matt Bonner is more likely though. Smith is clearly NOT an NBA prospect.

I think Louisville is a darkhorse team to hope for next year, in the extremely black Big East, with all 4 of their white players coming back. Preston Knowles (black) is a very important player for them and I'm not sure what his return status is. If Louisville does well next year, Petino might consider continuing to be pretty fair with his recruiting and playing time decisions.

 

[celticdb15]

Deadlift I forgot to post about talented SF Paul Jeperson from tiny Merril,WI. HE's ranked highly at his position and looks to be a promising player at Virginiain the ACC. Keep an eye on him next year since you'll be in the area! I want to see how this kid develops.


Tough keep in mind that Andrew Smith is only a sophomore. I'd love to see the kid get more comfortable with his game and maybe become a Zoubek type of center or better by the time hes a Senior.
Edited by: celticdb15

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I'm just glad that Jimmer Fredette won Player of the Year. Anything less would have been an insult.

 

[pistol pete]

I'm just glad that Jimmer Fredette won Player of the Year. Anything less would have been an insult. 

Jimmer had a great year all around. If he was on U Conn they would have done just as well.
In his last game against Florida, Jimmer ran out of gas and did not have the help around him.
Jimmer maximized his team's chances.

Hopefully, Jimmer vs. Kemba turns into a nice rivalry at the next level.
I project both to be lottery picks.

I think Matt Howard projects as a Shane Battier type player. Very solid, and a good role player if he plays within himself.

I hope Josh Harrelson gets a shot because I think his rebounding skills make him a good pro prospect.

Next year, a win by the Flying Plumlee Brothers would be great.
Hopefully they can get a point guard who can pass them the ball.
Singler is leaving but they have some new talent coming in. I was reading a write up of the Nike Hoops Summit game and the writer says that Marshall Plumlee basically got cheated out of the high school dunk contest last week. He also says that Marshall is more of a center than the other Plumlee boys. Yeah it is gonna be The Flying Plumlee Brothers Poster Night in the ACC next year. lol

 

[Deadlift]

I'm really glad we aren't throwing Butler under-the-bus.. because teams' like Texas, Arizona, Kentucky and Duke lost..

and the MSM won't "toss-aside" Derrick Williams, Nolan Smith, Brandon Knight, DeAndre Liggins, Tristan Thompson. Kemba had a weak Championship game as well. I've supported Matt Howard since he was an impact-frosh, and I will continue to support him and speak of his athleticism, quickness, footwork and basketball IQ.

 

[GreatLakeState]

Howard could be a Brian Cardinal-type in the NBA, stick around becaue of intangibles. He has no real position though, so hard to see a real impact.

 

[pistol pete]

Howard could be a Brian Cardinal-type in the NBA, stick around becaue of intangibles. He has no real position though, so hard to see a real impact.

Yeah, I can see that. Or a mixture of Shane Battier, Luke Walton, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Those are the best comparisons I can come up with.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

It's funny you mentioned Cardinal GLS- b/c that comparison to Howard crossed my mind as well. I do think Howard is a little stronger, quicker and more fluid though- which could give him a shot at getting a lot of PT at PF. Even though Howard is undersized and not a FREAK athlete- he has solid athleticism and enough to get by at his size with his fundamentals, inside-outside game and toughness and knack for always being around lose balls. Cardinal and Howard's styles are kind of similar.

Another guy I'm thinking of is Luke Harangody. I think Howard will turn into a better NBA player than Harangody will become if they both get a chance however. I'm not the best basketball scout, but this is my estimate.