College Basketball Notebook (7/2/08)

(Before I get into the notebook, I just want all of you to know that Nas' new album "Untitled Album" drops a week from today, make sure you all go out and BUY that. Sure, I just downloaded it [album review coming either tomorrow or Thursday], but best believe that I'm taking my happy ass over to Best Buy and coping that album.)

College Basketball Notebook (7/2/08)

Not everyone can be in my pre-preseason Top-5; however, there are other teams across the nation who can potentially be Top-10 teams next season. The following teams are teams that I expect to have great seasons next year, and area all teams that aren’t major market teams. They’re all respectable schools, but they’re all schools who play in the shadows of the larger schools of their respective conferences. With that being said, here are my Top 5 (or six) teams to watch out for the 2008-2009 college basketball season.

1. Arizona State
Arizona State should have been in the NCAA Tournament last season. Well, at least that’s the nice thing to say. I think they’re trip the NIT was the right one, but if they live up to their potential, they should be replacing that NIT bid with an NCAA Tourney one. James Harden (17.8 ppg) and Jeff Pendergraph (12.4 ppg), two of the Pac-10’s leading scorers will be back, along with Ty Abbot, one of the leagues many standout freshmen that no one in the country was talking about. I like the Sun Devils to finish in the top three of the Pac-10 next season. If they’re role players and bench can step up, look for them to contend for the Pac-10 title.

Biggest Question: Will their play be more consistent in the Pac-10? Definitely. Last year’s Arizona State team, although talented, was very young and struggled to score against some of the better Pac-10 teams. With a more experienced roster and a much weaker conference, the Sun Devils should finish much better than .500 in the conference and should be able to compete with the likes of UCLA and Arizona.

Key Losses: N/A
Notable Freshmen: Taylor Rhode (PF); Jonny Coy (SF)

2. Miami
This was a team that was picked to finish last by ESPN and talkhoops.net (actually myself) – they surprised conference rivals and pundits alike when this team finished fifth with an 8-8 record in the conference. Jack McClinton (17.7 ppg), along with the rest of this core, James Dews, Brian Asbury, and Dwayne Collins will all be returning for the ‘Canes next season. The loss of Anthony King is going to hurt, but Collins and Asbury are only going to be better inside next season, plus DeQuan Jones, an incoming freshman, should be a nice addition to this team.

Biggest Question: Knowing defenses will key Jack McClinton, where will scoring come from? McClinton will continue to get his shots off when he wants, but he’s definitely going to need help – especially in conference play. I like James Dews to help him out on the parameter and Dwayne Collins to be more productive inside with King gone. Also, freshman DeQuan Jones is said to be incredibly quick and a great finisher.

Key Losses: Anthony King (SR)
Notable Freshmen: DeQuan Jones

3. Oklahoma
I really liked the way Oklahoma played toward the end of last season. They finished March with a 5-2 record, with their only two losses coming to Texas and Louisville. Jeff Capel really had this team competing last season – even when Blake Griffin went down with an injury. With Blake, along with three of the other four starters returning, the Sooners look to be in a position to finish in the top two or three in the conference. Tony Crocker and Austin Johnson will be key to this team’s success because great parameter play was a staple to the top two teams in the conference last season (Kansas and Texas). Blake Griffin could be the Big-12 player of the year and his brother, Taylor, should be getting more minutes and production should rise.

Biggest Question: Can this team compete with the better teams in the nation? Last season, Oklahoma had problems with tournament bound teams. If you look at their losses (Memphis, USC, Kansas State, Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas [three times], almost all of them came to teams who played in the tourney. They are going to have to win these games if they want a respectable seed and any confidence going into the NCAAs. I think with the added experience, this team is more than equipped to compete with some of the more upper echelon teams in the country.

Key Losses: Longar Longar (SR); David Godbold (SR)
Notable Freshmen: Willie Warren (SG); Ray Willis (SG)

(The final three teams from this College Basketball notebook can be found at Talkhoops.net. Be sure to check it out later on tonight or tomorrow.)

Stay Hideous
-PB

(Word count to date: 33,220
68 days and 66,780 words to go)