Category — College Basketball

Somewhere “Duke” Vitale is drooling.
Though it surely isn’t on the level of North Carolina or Kentucky, Duke is getting rave reviews at the Maui Classic. And for a good reason. Two of them are Austin Rivers and Seth Curry, who have generated much attention. The Blue Devils meet Kansas, which stopped UCLA Tuesday night, in the title game tonight. UCLA faces Michigan in the 3rd-place game.
N.Y. Times

Could this rocky Hollywood marriage being headed for divorce too?
We watched much of the Maui Classic today for a little homework that might benefit us later. Loved what we saw (particularly from Georgetown) and we found out UCLA does have a pulse.
After 2 straight losses to open the season and then a half for them to show up for this 1 (Reeves Nelson too but that’s another story), the Bruins delivered in a lopsided win over Chaminade. They face Kansas on Tuesday.
Duke and Michigan clash in the appetizer.
L.A. Times

Before Michael Jordan, there was the high-flying David Thompson. Coke and alcohol supposedly led to the grounding of his game, but at the top of it, no player flew higher and few could ball like Thompson. The 6-4 Thompson also was the player who led a North Carolina State team to a surprising national championship in 1974, ending a run of John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins, who happened to have center then named Bill Walton.
Grantland.com

Just freaking awful. And an extremely dark day again for Cowboy fans in particular and sports fans in general. Our thoughts are with the families.
NewsOK.com

The former UCLA player and coach, who also played in the NBA, passed today after complications from heart surgery. Hazzard, who also was known by his Muslim name of Mahdi Abdul-Rahman, was only 69. Hazzard suffered a major stroke in 1996 and had experienced serious health problems since then. RIP.
AP

Or bald ones…
USC’s Kevin O’Neill, already politicking after losing at San Diego State: “It’s a tough loss. I’m proud of how we played, we fought hard. (SDSU is) a good basketball team, they’re going to be an NCAA Tournament team like Nebraska is going to be an NCAA Tournament team. We had our chances, we made a mistake defensively (when) Dewayne (Dedmon) missed a switch on a pick-and-roll high on the floor. Then we gave up a layup, which is unforgiveable. But credit them, they did a good job and they finished the game.”
Thanks Coach.

Rasheed Wallace would have said “both teams played hard.”
Steve Fisher: “This team is as good a defensive team that we are going to face all season,” he said of the Trojans. “They give you nothing easy and I said before the game that the 1st team to 63 is going to win. Well, neither of us got to 63. It was a grind-it-out, hard-fought, don’t-make-excuses, don’t-complain (type of game), and both teams played like that.”
Like getting drunk and screwing a fat ho. Or as my good friend Wilma would say, “sleeping with the fleas.”

Two games don’t make a season, but UCLA’s 2 double-digit defeats by LMU and Middle Tennessee State has exposed some weaknesses of Ben Howland’s club. And of course there’s the uncertainty of the Bruins’ best player, Reeves Nelson, who is suspended indefinitely and might be on his way out. This is the favorite to win the Pac-12?
The Dagger

Meanwhile, life is good in college basketball. There are tons of games, and though we know the national media will jump all over Duke-Michigan State, we’d recommend San Diego vs. Perry Jones III and Baylor at 11 a.m. (PT) Tuesday. Plus, what’s better than some college basketball in the middle of the day with the exception of a nooner?
ESPN.com

UCLA is the favorite to win the Pac-12 conference title, but the Bruins couldn’t even beat LMU in their home opener Friday night. Actually, LMU drove them, in the words of Ben Howland.
This traveling show, where the Bruins will play most of their home games at the Sports Arena while workers spruce up Pauley Pavilion, might cause a few hiccups.
Daily Breeze