Tuesday Update

Syracuse and Penn State getting JuCos? Wow! Penn State almost gets ...Skylar from Heroes?? What? That doesn't even make sense! Recruiting Wars has the answers (sort of).

Blogger Yoni Cohen looks at the potential impact of an extended three point line... He thinks it is not necessary to make any changes. I disagree, I think the game will improve because now three point shots will be more valuable, and there will be more free space between the three point line and the paint. Players will not be hoisting up threes like crazy (or the coaches will pull them out). Defensive minded coaches who enjoy slugfests won't be able to pack it in and yet be able to defend the three. There will be a price to play, either a three or a mid-range one-on-one or mid-range shot... There are arguments to be made that the lane should be widened as well, but perhaps that's not a good idea. Have you seen any Euroleague/International games (NBA TV shows some as well)? A wider lane takes away post-play and we don't want _all_ college hoops games to look like Euroleague/international/Princeton-style games... This may be an interesting experiment to watch. After all, if it fails, they can always revert or adjust...

Goodman's blog talks about Xavier's schedule and outlook for next season, the bigs carving up the paint at Pitt next year (including Western Pa space-eater DeJuan Blair), and Drew Gordon surpring some people by choosing UCLA.

On the Drew Gordon front, perhaps the back-to-back final fours gave Ben Howland the edge? Well regardless, since he did not chose Duke, I have no problems :-)

Is Dick Vitale running for public office? In his weekly appearance on Monday's Mike and Mike (720am ET on Mondays) he declared war on locker room alcohol. He sounded like a politician on the campaign trail. He used to be a basketball analyst.

Speaking of the Dookies, we are surrounded!. Even the Euroleague Final Four was infested with Dookies. Alaa Abnelnaaby (sp?) was the game analyst on NBA TV, while Trajan Landgon played for one of the teams.

The argument of NCAA mascots and Native Americans did not escape the Daily Show on Comedy Central which recently featured a segment that topic with their usual twist. That episode is probably available on their website or iTunes. But if you are easily offended, you have been warned :-)

Reminder: They put baskets to score! They put scoreboards to score!. This is a variation on theme of a comment made earlier by the one and only Pete Gillen (not Gillan, Ian Gillan was/is a hard rock/heavy metal singer). And to add to that, a goalie is not allowed in basketball! You cannot cover up the net with your body, unlike soccer/football and hockey. That's because the intend is to score! Yes score! Score early and often. A 41-40 score should be the halftime score, not the final score. Are you listening Big 10, MVC, Rick Majerus and Ben Howland? :-)


Reading is Fundamental Xs and Os segment You may find this book of interest if you enjoy or want to learn more about the Xs and Os of the game. The book Blackboard Strategies: Over 200 Favorite Plays From Successful Coaches For Nearly Every Possible Situation has 128 pages, was published in 1999 and is a compilation of 13 years of plays from "Winning Hoops". For more details, check the links to the Amazon details page or look inside the book.