College Hoops Thread 2011-2012

Originally Posted by The Poet

I myself would like to see the Bruins get back to, at least, relevance, though I don't desire (nor anticipate) their long-gone dominance occurring again. As for the "Carolina Lite" observation, let me say this: I had little problem with the Wear twins leaving UNC. I thought it put last year's squad in a bind, what with them being thin down low, but if they felt Chapel Hill was not right for them, they were right. We don't want players who aren't happy to be there. And even though their departure was a surprise, they at least waited until the end of the season before they sprung the news. However, when it comes to He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, to split in the middle of a campaign, in his junior year, solely because he lost his job to a better player, and felt he hadn't received the respect he hadn't earned on the court, and because he allowed his parents to tweet and chirp about how great he was . . . well, that's just wrong on many levels.

Unless both his attitude and his game changes a lot, I can't see him being more than a back-up for UCLA next year. His problems at Carolina were that he played east-west, not north-south, which killed the secondary break, and he was reluctant to make the pass to the scorers, which meant they got it too late to take advantage of position before the defense recovered. He-Who-Etc. was a game-changer . . . for the opposition.

I also think Smith will be your key post-player, and if the Wears can be "Plumlee-like" subs for 15-20 minutes a game each, you should be OK. And I also think Arizona might struggle some, and would not be shocked if they fell out of the rankings for a while.

Regular update ASAP.

I agree, the way Drew left UNC raises a lot of red flags. A lot of UCLA fans said that we shouldn't have taken him just because of the way he handled his departure from UNC.

I expect him to be the primary backup next year behind incoming freshman Kyle Anderson. Drew is the only pure PG on the roster, so he's bound to play a pretty large role in the backcourt. I think he will be better in Howland's half court offense than he was in Roy's fast break offense, though.

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by Mutombo

I agree, the way Drew left UNC raises a lot of red flags. A lot of UCLA fans said that we shouldn't have taken him just because of the way he handled his departure from UNC.

I expect him to be the primary backup next year behind incoming freshman Kyle Anderson. Drew is the only pure PG on the roster, so he's bound to play a pretty large role in the backcourt. I think he will be better in Howland's half court offense than he was in Roy's fast break offense, though.

Yes, He-Who-Etc. may do better in a half-court game, IF he gives up the ball to the right scorer at the right time. He was inconsistent at Carolina, however. One can give him a pass on his freshman year, as he understandably got little time playing behind Ty Lawson. In his other 1 1/2 seasons, he'd have one good game (say, 20 pts., 7 assts.), one "meh" game (8 and 5 with 4 TOs), and one stinker (4 and 3, and 7 TOs). At UNC, we don't expect the PG to score, but the rest just did not cut it. That, along with both his and his parents attitudes that his struggles was Roy's fault, not his, and that this was preventing him from becoming a superstar lottery pick, was the reason he lost his starting position to Kendall Marshall. It is likely also the main reason Harrison Barnes had such a slow start offensively at Chapel Hill. He-Who would NOT pass Barnes the ball, maybe thinking that would dim He-Who's light in contrast. Kendall had no such delusions, and accepted the team concept, so subsequently Barnes' game exploded in the second half of the season.

Update soon.