I want John Wall to do silly dances in our arena

10/19/2009 12:37:52 AM

i giggled at cousins listening to his ipod

10/19/2009 12:45:02 AM

I think those were earplugs. They were all wearing them.

10/19/2009 12:50:02 AM

Yeah they were all wearing ear plugs b/c of the speakers and pyrotechnics. It would have been kind of funny if one of their players got blinded by the laser light show. Calipari's speech was like a presidential inauguration. I kind of wonder if he'll have to resort to shady recruiting strategies now that he's at UK. I mean the program kind of recruits itself, similar to how UCLA, Duke, UNC, and Kansas do.

10/19/2009 12:56:38 AM

I briefly saw John Wall in the Kentucky scrimmage... and my God! He is so fucking quick and explosive it is sickening. By far the quickest PG I've seen with that size. He's like Lawson quick with a 6'4" body. It's disgusting that we were so close with him...

10/19/2009 9:03:47 AM

if he was from any other city in the US, we wouldnt have

10/19/2009 9:04:35 AM

True. Also was impressed with Bledsoe. lol, Kentucky has three PGs this year that are better than our best one. Not fair. Liggins, Bledsoe and Wall.

10/19/2009 9:16:31 AM

Dick Vitale's Top 40
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/news/story?id=4563198

1. Kansas

2. Kentucky

3. Michigan State

4.Texas

5. Purdue

6. Duke

7. Villanova

8. North Carolina

9. West Virginia

10. Connecticut

11. California

12. Louisville

13. Michigan

14. Tennessee

15. Mississippi State

16. Butler

17. Illinois

18. Florida State

19. Washington

20. Syracuse

21. Georgia Tech

22. Oklahoma

23. Florida

24. Ohio State

25. Georgetown

26. Maryland

27. Dayton

28. Xavier

29. Clemson

30. Oklahoma State

31. Arizona

32. Minnesota

33. Gonzaga

34. Siena

35. South Carolina

36. Pittsburgh

37. Tulsa

38. Notre Dame

39. Wisconsin

40. BYU

10/19/2009 12:40:50 PM

Might as well posts my wife and my mother's picks, probably would be more accurate and objective than Dickie's anyways.

10/19/2009 12:51:11 PM

how anyone could have nova lower than 3 shocks me.

10/19/2009 2:08:59 PM

Things that jump out to me are Texas is too high. They always seem to look bad come tournament time, considering how much talent they have. Duke is too high at #6. The fact that there are two Big Ten teams before a single Big East team is hilarious. Now supposedly the Big East will be down this year, but still the best team in the Big East is usually a Top 5 team. Florida State at #18 is ridiculous, especially since they lost Toney Douglas. Syracuse should be much higher, perhaps in the Top 10. GT shouldn't get any Top 25 love until Paul Hewitt shows us that he can coach, or at least be smart enough to get out of the way of his talented players. Georgetown looked awful last year and shouldn't be in the Top 25 until they can prove that they are significantly better. Maryland should be higher. The Twerps will be pretty damn good this year. Dayton should also be in the Top 25 as they will likely be the best team in the A-10. Also same goes for Siena, a team that brings back like 7 of their top 8 scorers and has played pretty well in the NCAA Tournament the past two years. Also where is Boston College in his Top 40? Yeah they lose Rice, but they return everyone else and are always a tough out. Rice didn't have to carry the team on his back last year like he had to 2 years ago, so they should be alright.

10/19/2009 2:13:52 PM

FUCK, I was hoping you were just a college football troll

10/19/2009 2:14:25 PM

UNC is overrated this year

10/19/2009 2:23:09 PM

Did you guys see this yet?

http://deadspin.com/5384442/duke-is-back-and-they-are-melodramatic

10/19/2009 2:56:19 PM

OH


MY


GAY

10/19/2009 3:45:23 PM

What conference is supposed to be the best this year?

10/19/2009 5:55:59 PM

just watched some youtube video of Duke's first scrimmage

Lance Thomas is still the worst basketball player i've ever seen (especially for a 5 star recruit)

Andre Dawkins could be pretty good

we'll see pretty early how UNC looks. they play Ohio State, Michigan State, Kentucky and Texas all before January. I think they are top 15 right now, but definitely not top 5. Lawson to Drew is a huge drop off, and they have no proven shooters. frontcourt should be the best in the country, though.

10/20/2009 12:39:59 AM

Besides UNC, who else is supposed to have a good frontcourt this season?

10/20/2009 12:55:04 AM

Kentucky
Texas
Georgia Tech

10/20/2009 1:10:18 AM

My regular season conference champion predictions

Power conferences

ACC - UNC

Big East - Villanova

Big Ten - Michigan State

Big XII - Kansas

Pac 10 - Cal

SEC - Kentucky


Mid-major conferences

A-10 - Dayton (the A-10 is probably the best mid-major conference out there and in some years is as good and perhaps better than the worst power conference)

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

MAC - Akron

Mountain West - Utah (BYU, New Mexico, and San Diego State will be pretty good though)

MVC - Creighton

OVC - Austin Peay

WAC - Nevada

WCC - Gonzaga

10/20/2009 1:44:35 AM

Quote :

"Georgia Tech"

gonna have to disagree with this, Udofia could be pretty good but Shumpert is fucking clown shoes man.

10/20/2009 1:31:37 PM

Both of them are guards anyway

[Edited on October 20, 2009 at 1:34 PM. Reason : x]

10/20/2009 1:34:11 PM

my bad, I thought he said backcourt

10/20/2009 1:37:13 PM

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/college_basketball/story/6279723/

Quote :

"N.C. State was picked to finish 12th, with 76 points overall."

ACC preseason men's basketball picks

1, tie, Duke (25) 545

1, tie, UNC (20) 545

3, Clemson 409

4, Georgia Tech (2) 387

5, Maryland 378

6, Wake Forest (1) 315

7, Florida State 314

8, Virginia Tech 273

9, Boston College 251

10, Miami 135

11, Virginia 116

12, N.C. State 76

10/25/2009 9:17:47 PM

what a surprise

10/25/2009 9:20:04 PM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/ncaa/10/22/jordan.ucf.ap/index.html

Quote :

"ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A fight over the shoes Michael Jordan's son will wear at the University of Central Florida could cost the school financially. Freshman guard Marcus Jordan is refusing to wear shoes made by adidas, the brand the university has a contract with for all its sports. He says he will only wear his father's Nike Air Jordan shoes because they hold special meaning to his family."

You'd think they would have addressed these concerns before they gave him a scholarship.

10/25/2009 9:35:09 PM

Kick him off the team. This guy is getting a scholarship, even though his family can obviously pay for his education fairly easily. Being on a college basketball team is a privilege, not a right. If he can't fulfill what is expected of him, like wearing the shoes of the company that sponsors the team, then he can take his ass on to some other school. It's not even like he's that important. He wasn't a highly recruited player, or is seen as the second coming of his dad. If he was John Wall or Michael Beasley, then maybe he could actually make such demands.

10/25/2009 9:41:23 PM

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/chi-24-haughoct24,0,7900293.column

Quote :

""UCF athletics did make Adidas aware of Marcus' recruitment and was led to believe that there would be a workable solution to a unique situation," the school's statement said. A solution wasn't worked out. So adjust. It happens all the time in life, so it's a good lesson for Jordan."

Found this while I was trying to find how highly recruited he was (btw ^ basically what you said, he was very low. #60 SG by ESPN's rankings). It does seem that they told him he'd be able to wear his Nikes. I wonder if Nike will just step in and give the school a sweet contract.

10/25/2009 9:46:55 PM

When do season tix go out? I'm going to enjoy the empty seats around me as I cheer the team onto pass last place in the ACC.

10/27/2009 1:08:48 PM

Story on Florida's problems the past two seasons.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4597820

I personally hope UF falls off the map. That'd be one less program that we'd have to recruit against.

10/29/2009 12:22:33 AM

First AP poll out.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/ncaa/10/29/ap.poll.ap/index.html

A rundown and a few impressions:

By conference:

ACC - 4
Big East - 5
Big Ten - 6
Big Twelve - 3
Pac-10 - 2
SEC - 3

- Georgia Tech at #22? Really? Did Paul Hewitt get fired or demoted or am I missing something?
- Six Big 10 teams? Have any writers SEEN Big 10 basketball the last decade?
- I'm inclined to think Georgetown and UNC are overrated while Maryland and Notre Dame are underrated.
- On a personal level, UConn at #12 might be a bit high but they'll be Top 10 by the end of the year. They have a beast of a schedule. They play #3, #4, #5, #8, #9 (if they both make the NIT finals), #15, #19 and #20. Yikes...

10/29/2009 12:56:57 PM

yeah, i really hope that Duke/UConn match-up happens. though i am still & about the 1999 and 2004 final fours

[Edited on October 29, 2009 at 1:10 PM. Reason : ,]

10/29/2009 1:10:29 PM

My breakdown of the polls:

AP Top 25

1. Kansas - Yes, unequivocally the No. 1 team
2. Michigan St. - Same thing here
3. Texas - Too high. Should be at 6.
4. Kentucky - Should be here or one spot higher
5. Villanova - Should be No. 3 or 4
6. North Carolina - It's either them or Duke that should be No. 5 as the best in the ACC
7. Purdue - About right
8. West Virginia - About right
9. Duke - See above comment, depth would be the main thing holding Duke back
10. Tennessee - Too high
11. Butler - About right. They probably won't be tested in their conference. They return all of their starters, and it wouldn't shock me if they made the Elite Eight.
12. Connecticut - Maybe right, but I could see them being lower too
13. California - Too low. They'll probably be the top team in the Pac-10 and most likely a top 10 team
14. Washington - The main challenge for Cal this year. UCLA is down. These two programs will determine who wins the Pac-10 and gets a 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA tourney
15. Michigan - Too high
16. Ohio St. - About right
17. Oklahoma - Depends on how Willie Warren does with out the Griffin bros. he could be NPOY if he keeps OU in the limelight
18. Mississippi St. - Probably right
19. Louisville - They lost a lot. I wouldn't be surprised for them to be in the Top 25, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they have a down year by their standards considering who they lost and the off-season distractions
20. Georgetown - Way too high. They have to show that they don't suck before they warrant Top 25 status
21. Dayton - Way too low. They'll be the top A-10 team this year and should be one of the best mid-majors along with Butler
22. Georgia Tech - WTF? That's all I've got to say.
23. Illinois - About right
24. Clemson - Maybe correct, but they shouldn't be in over Maryland, who should be damn good this year.
25. Minnesota - Uh no.

Others receiving votes: Maryland 171, Siena 112, Notre Dame 107, Florida St. 92, Vanderbilt 90, Syracuse 83, Oklahoma St. 65, UCLA 63, Florida 53, Wake Forest 50, Xavier 42, Gonzaga 37, South Carolina 28, Kansas St. 24, BYU 21, N. Iowa 16, Tulsa 16, Mississippi 15, Texas A&M 10, Missouri 8, Boston College 6, Pittsburgh 4, Utah St. 2, Va. Commonwealth 2, W. Kentucky 2, Holy Cross 1, Old Dominion 1.

Siena got snubbed bad. They return 7 of their top 8 scorers. They will be for real this year. ND never does shit, yet constantly get overhyped every year. FSU ain't doing shit w/o Toney Douglas. Ok St. could be decent this year. Vandy is about right. They are usually a fringe Top 25 team. UCLA will be down, but they've still got blue chip talent. Cuse got snubbed bad, and should be a top 25 team. UF is still living off of their success in 06 and 07. Let me remind you that this is a team picked to be 5th in the SEC East. They are not a good team, and their easy schedules the past two years hide that fact. Wake who knows with them. Xavier is about right. I'm surprised Gonzaga isn't higher considering how much the media gushes over them. South Carolina might actually break through and make the tournament this year. BYU could be good. Ole Miss WTF? I'm surprised BC isn't getting more love, since they return everyone but Rice.

10/29/2009 4:10:15 PM

NO SUN DEVILS?@?@?@??!!?!??!?!

10/30/2009 12:50:28 AM

So, there is a 70 post thread on Packpride debating whether or not Sidney Lowe is a better coach than Roy Williams.

I was like this the entire time I read it:



**** Also, that new rule that was passed prohibits package deals. I wonder where Harden would have gone if this rule was in place three seasons ago? UCLA?

[Edited on October 30, 2009 at 12:29 PM. Reason : x]

10/30/2009 12:28:56 PM

^

Quote :

"Under the proposal being considered, "during a two-year period prior or subsequent to the anticipated or actual enrollment of a prospective student-athlete, an institution may not employ and individual associated with the prospective student-athlete in any athletics department noncoaching position"

10/30/2009 1:03:33 PM

NCAA money machine BS going on again. Wall gets a 2 game suspension when the rules say he's supposed to sit 10% of the regular season. Meanwhile they're making WVU's Deniz Kilicli(also a freshman) sit for 20 games b/c he played on a team 2 years ago that happened to have one pro player.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4604120

Quote :

"If the benefits are more than $101, an athlete has to repay the value of the benefits and be subject to suspension for at least 10 percent of the team's regular-season games."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4610060

Quote :

"Wall must repay expenses and sit out for two games, the first exhibition game against Campbellsville on Nov. 2 and the regular-season opener against Morehead State on Nov. 13."

Quote :

"The repayment of expenses includes $787.58, mostly from travel during Wall's unofficial visits to schools his junior year of high school."

Deniz Kilicli gets screwed...
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4609665

[Edited on November 1, 2009 at 2:05 PM. Reason : Actually, I guess 2 games is kind of 10%, if you use retarded rounding and count exhibitions.]

11/1/2009 2:03:02 PM

UNC lost their scrimmage to Vanderbilt

i know these scrimmages don't mean much, but anytime UNC loses in anything it makes me happy

[Edited on November 2, 2009 at 1:53 PM. Reason : .]

11/2/2009 1:53:38 PM

Syracuse sees your embarrassing scrimmage loss and raises you a televised exhibition loss...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4620949

11/3/2009 11:28:09 PM

BUT I THOUGHT LOSING AN EXHIBITION MEANT YOUR SEASON WAS OVER

11/4/2009 12:06:13 AM

That game clock sure was moving a little slow.

11/5/2009 8:50:21 AM

Just an exhibition but I caught a few minutes of the UConn game last night (Dyson, Coombs-McDaniel and Beverly were all out) and I was so impressed with Kemba Walker's improvement it's not even funny. I thought a lot of people were crazy picking him to be the best PG in the Big East and one of the Top 3 in the country, but I'm sold...

He is still quick as ever but he actually can shoot. His shot was so ugly and flat last year... now it's silky smooth. He was draining pull-up 3's, running jumpers from the elbow and everything in between. If he can make that shot and still get to the hoop he will be nearly unstoppable.

Also, Stanley Robinson is a freak...

11/5/2009 8:59:01 AM

Quote :

"So, there is a 70 post thread on Packpride debating whether or not Sidney Lowe is a better coach than Roy Williams."

Wait, so what argument are they putting forth? That Roy wins because he has good players and Sid would win more but his players apparently are all mentally handicapped? It's a joke right?

11/5/2009 9:10:26 AM

don't know if anyone else is following this Harrison Barnes recruitment but it's been pretty ridiculous. new rumors everyday. IC is having 30 page circle jerk threads a day over it. he announces on the 13th

11/5/2009 10:56:25 AM

Man, I hope he goes to Duke... and I hate them more than UNC... but I want Roscoe Smith to go to UConn and he is still debating b/t Duke, G'Town and UConn.

If Barnes goes to Duke, Smith won't... If he does choose Duke, they will be better than 1999 Duke (lol) in 2 years... they have a sick roster with both him and Irving, plus dead weight like Zoubek and Thomas will be gone.

11/5/2009 11:57:28 AM

how are UCONN fans feeling about Brandon Knight? he seems like a Calipari type to me, but they already have Eric Bledsoe and look good for Josh Selby

11/5/2009 3:00:51 PM

LOL

GT needs OT to beat Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Its amazing that Paul Hewitt can do so little with the talent he has.


http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-t25-iup-georgiatech&prov=ap&type=lgns

Quote :

"ATLANTA (AP)—Gani Lawal scored 18 points and freshman Derrick Favors added 15 to lead No. 22 Georgia Tech to an 84-76 overtime exhibition win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Sunday. Lawal had six points as the Yellow Jackets outscored the visitors 12-4 in overtime. Favors, a 6-foot-10 forward, had nine rebounds and three blocks for Georgia Tech. Akida Mcclain had a game-high 31 points and 12 rebounds for Division II IUP. Darryl Webb and Thomas Young each added 12 points. "

11/8/2009 10:12:33 PM

Quote :

"Indiana University of Pennsylvania"

Name does not compute.

11/8/2009 10:16:07 PM

^^ Favors and Lawal outrebounded by IUP

11/8/2009 11:00:53 PM

Quote :

"how are UCONN fans feeling about Brandon Knight? he seems like a Calipari type to me, but they already have Eric Bledsoe and look good for Josh Selby"

Just saw this... I would say UConn feels pretty good about getting one of the 5* combo guards in the class. Knight or Corey Joseph... Basically whoever pulls the trigger first, they'll take.

As far as Knight, I've never gotten the idea he is a Cal type. He is a 4.0 student, goes to Church every Sunday with his family (which is why Miami was ever in it -- apparently he goes to mass every week with Frank Haith) and is a kid who has said he doesn't want to have a coach hand everything to him. The thing is if he goes to UConn he probably will play off the ball a lot with his body unless Kemba goes pro, which is a long-shot with his body.

11/9/2009 9:13:11 AM