Shootaround

Written by Jason Brubaker | 03 December 2009

I haven't fully dedicated myself to the college basketball season yet, not with college football still sorting itself out and my Gators still hunting a title. But, having no social life, I have been able to slowly start immersing myself into the hoops world lately. So with the season about a month old, here's some random notes and observations. In other words, I am bored at the office.

- Brian Zoubek is still at Duke. As hard as that is to fathom, it makes even less sense that the Duke fans have their own hand-signal to flash whenever Zoubek does something remotely helpful for his team. On the rare occasions when Zoubek isn't tripping over his own feet or fouling anyone within his reach, you can catch the student section making a "Z" signal with their hands, accompanied by a loud "Zeeeeee!" chant. Yes- I'm serious. A guy who has career averages of 3.8 points and 3.4 rebounds has his own cheering section. And Duke fans wonder why people make fun of them.

- At some point this season, a heralded freshman like Kentucky's John Wall or Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors will make a semi-vague remark to a reporter about "next year". This will prompt delusional fans to begin believing that this player is actually considering returning to school his sophomore year. This happened with Greg Oden, this happened with Michael Beasley, this happened with OJ Mayo. The lesson? Don't believe them. These guys have one goal in mind, and that goal isn't graduation. So enjoy them while you can, because once the season ends, they are as good as gone.

- It's hard to watch a Gonzaga game without hearing the announcers trip over themselves to praise Matt Bouldin. For some reason, every broadcasting team in America feels the need to hype Bouldin as an NBA player. The only problem is that I can't find Bouldin on a single mock draft anywhere. Not one. Turns out, NBA GMs aren't crazy about undersized shooting guards with average athleticism and no defensive ability. This doesn't take away from Bouldin's college accomplishments- the kid is definitely a player. But let's not act like he's a sure fire pro. My guess is he'll be the best player in the Spokane-area YMCA men's league next fall.

 - North Carolina is huge. The Heels have six players in their rotation who are 6'9" or taller; John Henson, Deon Thompson, Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller, David Wear and Travis Wear. And they're set to add 6'8" SF Harrison Barnes next year, as well as a 6'6'" SG in Reggie Bullock. Talk about passing the eyeball test for a basketball team. Runner ups in clude Gonzaga and Wisconsin, who each boast five players in their rotation who are at least 6'9". As the old saying goes, you can't teach height.

- Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City must have one heck of a training program. How else do you explain Kansas freshman Xavier Henry, who looks like a WWE wrestler? Seriously-this guy looks more like a linebacker than a shooting guard. Actually, it's too bad he didn't decide to play football at Kansas. Think Mark Mangino would have thought twice about getting in this guy's face?

- UCLA is bad. As in 2-4, with a 27-point loss to Portland bad. And that's not the Blazers either. Apparently there is a Portland University, and they have better basketball players than the Bruins. They also have come up short against Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, and, to top things off, forward Drew Gordon has announced he will transfer. Gordon certainly isn't a superstar, but it's not a good sign when your third-leading scorer decides he'd rather play elsewhere...six games into his sophomore season. Who would have thought the loss of Jrue Holiday would send the Bruins spiraling so quickly?

- The Renardo Sidney gamble has paid off for Mississippi State. So far, the talented but troubled recruit has not committed a foul, screwed up a defensive assignment or even missed a single shot this year. Of course, he also hasn't scored a point, grabbed a rebound or blocked a shot...mainly because he has yet to suit up. The Bulldogs are waiting on an NCAA investigation to wrap up, and in the meantime, they've dropped two of their first six games. With Sidney having a reputation for being lazy and not overly concerned with his weight, there's a good chance he won't make any significant contributions even if the NCAA eventually clears him to play.  But hey, at least it got Mississippi State basketball in the headlines for a few weeks right?

  - This may deserve it's own column at some point. I stumbled across this the other day, and I have since been passing it on to everybody I know. By now, most fans are well aware of Michigan SG, Manny Harris - an All Big 10 pick last year. What many may not know is that Manny is, in fact, his nickname. His given name? Corperryale L'Adorable Harris. Isn't your life better for knowing this?