12/21/24
November 24, 2002
College B-Ball Report: The preseason NIT rolls along, and now it's time for the Maui invitational, and guess what folks the big news this year is the arena they play the games in is finally air conditioned. Oh yeah they're playing a few games too. This one is short, and sweet folks, here's the top 25 results from the past week, and after looking over the final four in the NIT, and looking over the Maui field who do you thinks coming out on top?
posted by jbou to basketball at 08:36 PM - 3 comments
I agree with tieguy's assessment of UNC's frosh; they are impressive, although I worry about Felton trying to do too much with the dribble. Despite having a good deal of athleticism, Carolina still seems to have some problems penetrating defenses (at least they did against Rutgers).
posted by thescoop at 09:44 AM on November 25, 2002
I'll be at the NIT semis at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night as part of a family tradition that goes back almost as far as the tournament does. I'm seeing Kansas and Florida as the likely winners, but the semis for this tournament are almost always great basketball games. I can hardly wait . . .
posted by Omnivore at 11:12 PM on November 25, 2002
Having seen Duke (both men and women) play this weekend, and Kansas and others play this week on TV... my thoughts: On the women's side, Duke is going to be very, very hard to beat. UConn may be the only team who can do it. I plan to be there for that game, in Cameron. On the men's side... Kansas looks very, very good. Roy will have to eventually win one. Not sure it'll be this year, but it could happen- certainly, he's got as good a chance as anyone. Carolina is going to be better than I expected- their freshmen are the real deal. That said, I'm still underwhelmed by Doh as a coach. We'll see this year, I think- if he can coach them, he's got the material to have a good team. Duke... Shavlik Randolph may be the ACC player of the year as a freshman. He's that talented. Had he played 30-35 minutes, he could have outscored Army by himself on Saturday night. When Duke plays together, Duke will be able to beat anyone in the country. I highly, highly doubt they'll be able to do that for six games in a row in January or February, much less March, though- they're just too young and too unpolished. It'll be a fun ride for Duke fans, though- at least those who aren't completely spoiled by the recent success.