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NBA NCAA Basketball - SportDime

The Draft and Freddy Adu

June 23rd 2011 18:59
Derrick Williams is going to be a star. Nothing more, nothing less.

Also, it is about time Bradley gave Freddy some time in the Gold Cup. He should be a mainstay on the squad now, whether it be starting, or most likely coming on as a sub and bringing some pace to the side.



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Bracket Busters - St. Mary's Gaels

January 21st 2011 17:40
St. Mary's Gaels
St. Mary's Gaels


When one thinks of the West Coast Conference, Gonzaga automatically comes to mind – and for good reason. Gonzaga has been very successful under coach Mark Few, recording at least 23 wins in all of 11 seasons he has been the head coach for the Bulldogs. However, they may now have a perennial contender to the WCC championship – the St. Mary’s Gaels.


Coach Randy Bennett recruits in Australia, and it is not uncommon to spot a few Aussies in his starting lineup, such as Patty Mills. In turn, St. Mary’s started to turn it around in the 2007-08 season when Mills came to Moraga. Mills averaged 14.8 PPG during his freshman campaign and led the Gaels to the NCAA tournament as a 10 seed, losing in the first round to seven seed Miami (FL).

The 2008-09 season started off very promising when the Gaels started off 14-2, but then Mills broke his hand and missed a whole month of the regular season. St. Mary’s ended up in the NIT that year, getting to the third round before losing at San Diego State by four points. This was the end to Mills’ sophomore season and his college career. He entered the NBA draft and was drafted in the second round by the Portland Trail Blazers.

The 2009-10 season came around, and St. Mary’s needed a new go-to-guy. Senior C Omar Samhan was that guy. Samhan had been a top contributor in previous seasons, but now, this was his team. Samhan went on to play in all of St. Mary’s 34 games that season, while averaging 21.3 PPG, 10.9 RPG, and 2.9 BPG. Samhan lead the Gaels to the WCC tournament championship with a win over Gonzaga, then went on to the NCAA tournament as a 10 seed and made it to the sweet sixteen before being ousted by a hot Baylor team.

Then came the 2010-11 season. The Gaels were left again looking for another go-to-guy, and Senior G Mickey McConnell has stepped up. McConnell (who would have given Black Donnellys more credibility) is averaging 15.0 PPG and 6.4 APG, to go along with his 48.5 three point percentage. He has led his team to a record of 17-2 (5-0 in conference).

St. Mary’s will be tested in this coming week with three huge road games. The first is this Saturday when the Gaels take a cross country trip to Vanderbilt to take on the 13-4 Commodores. Led by G John Jenkins, Vanderbilt should be an NCAA team this year. On Thursday, they will make their northern WCC trip to play at Gonzaga, then on Saturday at Portland. If St. Mary’s comes out with a split of these two conference games, it will be a great building block for them on the way to a conference championship.

Key Wins: St. John’s, (N) Mississippi State

Key Losses: (N) BYU, at San Diego State

Predicition: 6-4 finish, 23-6 going into conference tournament – the conference tournament should come down to them and Gonzaga, and it’s basically a toss-up when those two meet. I’ll take St. Mary’s to beat them and go 25-6 (because of the weird format of the WCC tournament) with a nine seed in the NCAA tournament and losing in the first round, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see McConnell shoot them into the second round.

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Bracket Busters - USC Basketball

January 12th 2011 18:48
USC Basketball

USC


The USC Trojans have been a completely different team since Fordham transfer G Jio Fontan became eligible in the game at Kansas. In the six games he has played for USC, he has averaged 13.7 points and 4.3 assists and will be the key to USC’s success for the remainder of the season. USC is 4-2 since Fontan became eligible, with wins at Tennessee, at home against Washington State, and at home against rival UCLA, and a pair of close losses at Kansas and at home against Washington.

F Nikola Vucevic can be a headache for opposing coaches because of his range. The 6-10, 260 pound forward from Montenegro can extend defenses all the way out to the three-point line where he shoots 32.5 percent. Vucevic is hauling in 16.1 PPG and 9.6 RPG for the Trojans this year and should get a look in the NBA when he declares for the draft. In turn, Vucevic’s range opens up space in the lane for F Alex Stepheson, who is built like a tank. Stepheson spent his first two seasons playing for North Carolina, but transferred and is in his last season with USC – he is contributing 10.2 PPG and 9.1 RPG.

USC has a very promising PG in Freshman Maurice Jones. Jones is one of the quickest point guard’s in the nation, and at 5’7”, he needs to be. The freshman out of Saginaw, MI was a great find for coach Kevin O’Neill and should be a good player for the next few years.

What most really good teams have is a bench player who can come on and contribute right away. USC has exactly that. Senior G Donte Smith can shoot USC back into any game with his three-point shooting abilities. He is shooting 39.8 percent from behind the arc and averaging 2.2 three-pointers per game. Against Kansas, Smith went 5-for-7 from three, and was seconds away from pulling off an upset.

Key Losses: Rider, Bradley (Neutral), at Nebraska, at TCU, at Kansas, Washington

Key Wins: Texas, at Tennessee, Washington State, UCLA

Prediction: 9-6 the rest of the regular season, 19-12 before conference tournament, will need two wins in conference tournament to have a chance at all for the NCAA’s. NIT 2 seed. However, if they do get in the tournament as an 11 or 12 seed, they could easily pull off an upset or two.

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