NBA All-Star Weekend, College Style

Have you ever felt like you need to find someone to root for in the pros? Someone who represents your school or country? Well, here at RJS we feel that pain and we have thus compiled a list of the participants in the Rookie Challenge which airs tonight on TNT. More lists will come in the next couple of days for the Saturday night competitions and actual All-Star Game.

Rookies:
Omri Casspi (Kings) Israel
DeJuan Blair (Spurs) Pittsburgh
Stephen Curry (Warriors)Davidson
Tyreke Evans (Kings) Memphis
Jonny Flynn (T-wolves) Syracuse
Taj Gibson (Bulls) USC
James Harden (Thunder) Arizona State
Brandon Jennings (Bucks)Lottomatica Virtus Roma (Italy)
Jonas Jerebko (Pistons) Sweden

Sophomores:
Michael Beasley (Heat) Kansas State
Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) Spain
Danilo Gallinari (Knicks)Italy
Eric Gordon (Clippers) Indiana
Brook Lopez (Nets) Stanford
Kevin Love (T-wolves) UCLA
O.J. Mayo (Grizzlies) USC
Anthony Morrow (Warriors)Georgia Tech
Russell Westbrook (Thunder)UCLA

As you can tell, the most represented schools are UCLA and U$C with two players each. It should be noted though that Memphis would have had two but Derrick "SATs" Rose is playing in the actual ASG. The Pac-10 has 6 representatives from four different schools, leading all collegiate conferences. Internationally, there are four countries, all of which are European (Israel plays in Europe in basketball), probably a first.

UNC = UCLA East?

Has anyone been following the huge collapse of UNC? If not, you should. It's kind of fun to see. It is amazing how similar of a downfall it is to UCLA's. There is a youth movement in both places, as UNC also plays tons of freshmen and sophomores, although they still have much more experience than UCLA. Unlike the Bruins, Carolina has tanked it up in the ACC having lost six of eight conference games. However, it should be noted that the ACC >> Pac-10 this year, so that fact might be slightly skewed. Additionally, Carolina has actually beaten all the teams they should beat out of conference, except College of Charleston. That fact sits much more comfortably when you consider UCLA lost at home to Fullerton and on a neutral court to the likes of Portland and Long Beach State on a neutral court. So the two situations are somewhat different, but in the big scheme of things its a very analogous story. Two powerhouses in the world of college basketball that wear light shades of blue and recent final four programs, that will probably not make the Dance. Still, I would love to be in Carolina's position much more than UCLA's. You know, being the defending National Champs.

Signing Day Disparity

Today has been a crazy day for those following National Signing Day. Many fan bases have been feeling good about themselves, while many have not. No matter who you root for though, you must have noticed the differences that the three main recruiting rankings have between them. I have always found it quite odd that most of the time none of the three agree. Here are the top-15 rankings from each service (Rivals, Scout, ESPNU):

Clearly, these three have tons of differences. While each has UCLA and U$C as the top schools out of the Pac-10, the third one differs for all three. Rivals has Cal, Scout has Washington, and ESPNU has Stanford. At least Scout and Rivals both agree that Oregon is #13. Another striking difference is that U$C is ranked as high as #2 on Rivals, but as low as 7/8 on Scout/ESPNU. Speaking of U$C and Lane Kiffin, check out Tennessee's ranking on Scout. Much lower than both of the other services. Staying in the South, it is interesting that FSU is ranked #10 for both Rivals and Scout but as high as #6 on ESPNU. There are also a few teams on ESPNU's rankings that don't appear on either of the other two. As previously mentioned Stanford is absent from the other two, in addition to Ohio State, Miami, and Georgia. That's just above 25%. On Scout, Ole Miss makes an appearance as does Washington, and Rich-Rod's Michigan amounting to 20%. Rivals for whatever reason has California, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame, also comprising 20% of the rankings. As you can see, these three services have tons of disparities between one another. But hey, at least they all have Florida at #1.

NCAA Tournament Expansion? No thanks.

The world really does revolve around money doesn't it? As if the current contract that CBS and the NCAA have for the glorious event that is March Madness, they have to come up with new ways to generate more revenue. Sadly, the NCAA is seriously considering adding a bunch more mediocre teams and expanding the filed to 96. This seems completely dumb. If you expand it, why are you giving a bunch of teams, 32, a bye? The first round is going to suck, a lot. If you expand, do it the right way, and expand it to 128, a power of two (shout out to my fellow engineers). But regardless, I am not for it. Especially if the main purpose is for a more lucrative television deal. I mean what is wrong with the current format? Enough teams get a chance to play and those have all given us plenty of upsets and heartbreaks, so why try to create more? Chances are those teams that are added will not be able to do much. Also it eliminates the excitement smaller schools have when finally making it to the tournament. Lastly, the current format provides three glorious weekends that are logically organized and give tons of schools exposure and a chance at the spotlight. And oh by the way, this is coming from a UCLA student who is watching his team slip away from even the slightest chance at making the Big Dance this year.

Midseason Report

So I have been completely off on most of my predictions about how this Pac-10 season was going to turn out, but I feel like so have a lot of people. Who would have known that Washington can't win (even once!) away from the friendly confines of Bank of America Arena? Who knew Arizona would be able to put something legitimate together and be in a tie a top the conference? And who knew that Oregon would win its first two, then drop a five, then sweep the LA schools? Not me and not anyone. This has been a roller coaster season, and even that is an understatement. For those who like to see actual numbers, here is the way the conference looks right now (courtesy of ESPN):

Yes, only three games separate first and last place. There are also five teams with a 4-5 record right now. With the exception of Oregon State, all the teams are tied at least with one other team. There balance and parity is out of control this year. But don't be fooled, it's not in a good way. I've watched plenty of the league games both in person and on the tube, and never saw a team put a three game stretch that would turn the heads of the NCAA Selection Committee. In this post I made some daring guesses about how the conference would transpire. Right now, I think that I would like to flip my top team and most disappointing team. I mean, Arizona is overachieving and Washington is completely inconsistent and undeserving of any praise at this point in the season. In five weeks, this could change again though. As far as my picks for FOY and POY I think that I am right on point because Reeves Nelson and Quincy Poindexter have worked wonders for UCLA and Washington respectively. So yay, I am 50% right at this point! This is like getting back a UCLA Engineering midterm because if you are above the 40% average, you can feel good about yourself.

Georgetown Exposes Duke

So as I woke up this morning tired and trying to figure out what exactly happened last night, I checked my phone and saw a text from my dear friend Shelley Murveit at Georgetown saying she was pissed off at me for texting her in the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast. Obviously, she was probably not angry that, but because she had to wake up super early (7am) to day drink and watch her Hoyas take on those Dukies. Either way, it reminded me that instead of being angry at the world (I also have a midterm in two days) I should watch the top-10 contest between the two schools. As I turned the TV on about half way through the first half, I smiled. Duke was getting owned. Luckily for me, this didn't change until the last minute of the game, but by then, no one cared. Georgetown exposed Duke once again as an over-hyped, crappy, and ultra-vanilla basketball team. Greg "Craig" Monroe destroyed anyone Duke had to offer, including foul machine Lance Thomas (seriously, every game I watch he's in foul trouble, like Alfred Aboya circa 2008). Wright, Georgetown's point guard was terrific in distributing and showing how one of the best Jewish players (Jon Scheyer) in college basketball is probably not as good as Dick Vitale would like you to think he is. Actually he did score 17 points, but on 5-13 shooting, or as UCLA fans call it, a Drago line or kind of like this guy:

While the basketball was obviously the biggest attraction of the game, Barack "Lefty" Obama was courtside with his VP Joe Biden taking the game in. He did not really show any favoritism either way, which I think is smart. As he was being interviewed by the CBS guys, he laughed at his bodyguard Reggie Love, a former Duke player. He also mentioned a few key things, and broke down fellow Lefty Monroe's pretty spin move in the lane (including a right handed finish!). This sideshow however did not distract yours truly from enjoying a Duke team get destroyed. Ironically, Coach K used the "Stanford line-up" (3 white guys) as opposed to the "Duke line-up" (4 white guys) and it still did not help. Probably because Nolan Smith was feeling the home jitters as he was playing in his hometown, but I don't buy it. Of course, those could be the same jitters Duke players felt in 2007-2009 as they failed to move past the sweet-sixteen. But hey, at least we found out from this game that Georgetown is for real (unlike Duke), and could make a serious run at the final four. I guess that VP Biden agrees...

We're a football school? Right???

From Rick Reilly's newest article (you can read here http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4861102&sportCat=ncf ):

"It's been bad news for USC football fans, who just lost the Doberman Pete Carroll to the NFL and had him replaced with the puppy Lane Kiffin, an unproven, scatter-mouthed, rule-breaking 34-year-old whose combined head coaching record is 12-21. Kiffin's leaving the Vols was especially bad news for Kiff in's 1-year-old, Monte Knox Kiffin, whose middle name is an homage to Knoxville. Honey, do you have the Wite-Out? Maybe we can pencil in "Troy" on the birth certificate?

But it's been good news if you're a UCLA football fan. Suddenly, Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel looks like the altar boy in town, the seasoned genius. Hell, Neuheisel's already beaten Kiffin head-to-head, trumping the Vols 19-15 last season. Plus, Kiffin tried to steal Neuheisel's brainiac offensive coordinator, Norm Chow, and whiffed. It's all sunshine in Neuheisel's sports section lately. Trading Carroll for Kiffin as your crosstown rival is like trading a hangman for a hangnail."

UCLA has already passed USC in the recruiting rankings with the addition of DTs Sealil Epenesa and Cassius Marsh.

Rey Maualuga Is a Role Model

That is, if your idea of a role model is a thug who hangs out with minors and drinks and drives. It is not to surprising if you are a UCLA fan, or for that matter, a fan of any other Pac-10 team who's mascot is not named after a lost civilization. This guy has been a punk for years, and if you do not believe me check this video out:

You many have also seen him taunting fans and opposing players numerous times on the the field and sidelines, but that's not that uncommon these days for athletes so I'll give it a "pass" for now. But what happened today is truly dumb and a new low for Rey. He went out and drank. Sure why not, we all do that. He then drove. Some people do that, not smart. He hung out with a minor. Some people do that too, they are called pedophiles and probably end up in jail. Essentially Rey managed to complete the trifecta. According to reports, he blew a .157 after he got pulled over, and was hanging out with an 18 year-old and 17 year-old girl. Rey, how old are you? That's right, 23. The five year gap is a lot in my opinion, but under the law is legal. The 17 year-old? Illegal. Now, I am not going to ellude to any inappropriate behavior but the simple fact that he is hanging out with two girls who should not have even been around a bar is troubling. What's worse is that he then perceeded to drive them and hit two cars in the process as well as a parking meter. Maybe the parking meter was intentional because he needed some spare cash after getting a pay-cut when leaving U$C to go to the Bengals. Again, just a thought. But hey, at least Rey got arrested in style, check out his "mug shot":