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Tuesday, November 28, 2000
The Word's Answer Man
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Sorry for the delay in responses. We got caught up in our trip around the country. The Answer Man returns with a regular Friday installment.
Is Ronald Curry ever going to live up to the hype that he once had in high school? Virtually no one expects him to do much when he leaves the gridiron for basketball later this year. I think a lot of people are underestimating his abilities. I don't think he will ever be a good shooter but neither was Ed Cota, who wasn't that bad of a point guard. I don't see how he can be less of a player than say King Rice from the late 1980s and early '90s.
Curry could end up being a star for the Tar Heels once he gets into basketball shape. The expectations aren't high for him, giving him plenty of room to make mistakes and eventually blossom. Point guard is a major concern for the Tar Heels and if he can step in and be a factor, than he'll exceed his potential -- at least for this season.
Last year, DePaul was a disappointment. The team had too much talent to lose in the first round of the NCAAs. I think Quentin Richardson going pro will help the Blue Demons' chances this year. The other players almost felt obligated to give him the ball. They'll play more loose this year. What do you think about their chances? And, what's the deal with Curry?
When I was at DePaul last month they all said there was more chemistry on this team. If that's the case then they should be better. But it will be easier without a dominating Cincinnati in Conference USA. DePaul should be a factor for the title and has a chance to get a top-five seed this season. I've written about what I think on Curry. I don't think he'll play in college.
Why does the NIT bother to have a preseason tournament? The only teams they want are the high-profile teams like Duke and Indiana. I understand it gives some teams the exposure they normally wouldn't get. My gripe is why would they send New Mexico to Philadelphia to play Temple? The game would have sold out if it were played in Albuquerque. Instead, they played in a near-empty arena. The NIT should just get four high-profile teams and automatically send them to New York.
Chris V, Saavedra
Albuquerque
Remember, the Preseason NIT is more about selling tickets in New York, not just about selling tickets in the first two rounds. The NIT should have had better brackets and kept the West teams together and produced one team out of the West for New York. That would have made the most sense. Putting Cal, Pepperdine, New Mexico and Texas in one bracket would have cut down on travel for all four teams and produced a true regional rep for New York.
Do you think that the NCAA is unfair in penalizing native Nigerian Lasege (Louisville basketball) for signing with a Russian league team, although he received no monetary payment? Lasege and others like him had very little options regarding their situation and to deny him the chance to play is a catastrophe in itself.
Catherine Hobbs
Athens, Ga.
Yes. I don't see why Lasege isn't playing basketball in college. I could live with a suspension for a few games or even having him pay back some of the money. But an outright ban doesn't make any sense. It's discouraging to him and to all foreign players, and sends a message that they're better off trying to go pro than fighting the NCAA for eligibility.
In previewing the Big West Conference for ESPN.com, you wrote that Cal State Fullerton was a "team on the way down," adding, "Matching last year's three conference wins will be a chore, not to mention the eight victories overall. We feel for new head coach Donny Daniels in his return to his old stomping grounds."
Andy, it appears you haven't done your homework. Contrary to what you might have written, CSUF is a team on the way UP and not DOWN. I know so much about CSUF hoops since I got both my undergrad and graduate degree there. Yes, this means I'm not a 100 percent unbiased observer, but I'm not as clueless as your prediction.
Will CSUF have a tough time matching last year's conference and overall win totals? Probably, although I think both will be exceeded by a few. Being in the booster club, I have had the chance to speak to coach Daniels several times. If you look at who we recruited as well as the rest of conference, there is NO REASON WHATSOEVER we can't be on the way up. After this season we get a few more scholarships back from our ridiculous probation, which also means we can sign JC players, too.
Donny has already said that once the season is over, how we play as opposed to how many games we won will determine how successful our season was. Having seen CSUF the other day against Simon Fraser (again, I know they aren't to be confused with Arizona or Duke) we looked exceptional on defense. In reality we expect to win about 5-7 conference games and about 10-12 overall. Anything more in either area is gravy.
As you know, the Big West will NEVER be confused with the ACC, SEC, Pac-10 or even WCC -- which is why we call it "The Big Worst." With this in mind, it further backs up my point that CSUF men's hoops is on the way UP. At the end of the season, we will have the hindsight to be able to look back on things and see who is/isn't right. I feel VERY confident in saying I KNOW I will be "more right" than you.
Keep up the great work on Todd (w/two Ds) Wright's show. For the most part, I agree with what you say, but not here. And when all is said and done, you'll realize I was right!
Erik Schuman
Fountain Valley, Calif.
I have faith in Donny Daniels, but I disagree that Cal State Fullerton will be a team to beat this season in the Big West.
I am a Tar Heel fan who has moved down to 'Bama. I still keep up with my Heels, and all this hype about them being so good. Is it just hype, like last year, when we were picked to beat Duke in the ACC and yet bombed, barely saving ourselves at the end? I know Duke is the best in the ACC, but is Carolina for real? Or will losing Parker put us down again?
Tim, the Tar Heels still need to go through a proving ground to determine if they can outlast Duke and Maryland in the ACC. Point guard will be an issue, so will the consistency of Joseph Forte and Brendan Haywood. They've got Final Four talent, but it's too early to say they'll be back.
Considering that Fresno State's schedule is not loaded with quality teams, how many games can the Bulldogs lose this year and still make it to the NCAAs? Must they win the WAC regular-season title?
Robert Goddard
Hanford, Calif.
It would be extremely hard for the Bulldogs to get in without winning either the regular-season WAC title or the conference tournament title. The RPI won't be that high, unless they rip off an improbable record. Beating N.C. State on Wednesday will help, but they don't have other marquee games, at least the way Georgia is playing of late.
How much of an impact will Rick Rickert's signing have on the Minnesota program? Michael Bauer appears to have some talent when he's healthy. Could the Gophers be making some noise in a year or two?
Aaron Scott
Madison, Wis.
Aaron, Minnesota is playing better than expected, at least in two games. The Gophers have the look of an NIT team in the next two years but will need more than Rickert to make the jump to the NCAAs. They don't have the overall size and quickness to stay in the top four or five in the Big Ten. Dan Monson will coach them well and he'll get players in the program who shouldn't be problems. But the talent level will take a few more years before it catches some of the marquee programs in the league.
Andy, I really appreciate your insight into the world of college basketball, and all the hard work you put into your column. However, could you please hold off on the bracket projections (ie. Duke in the East, Arizona in the West, Tennessee in the South) until at least Thanksgiving? If you hold off until then, I'm sure we will be able to at least place the No. 1 through No. 3 seeds.
Roger Moore
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Hey, everyone else was making predictions. Why can't we?
Mr. Katz: Last year there was a weekly television show that you hosted covering college basketball. Will this show be on TV this season, and if so, when will it begin?
Tim Takach
Lake Oswego, Ore.
First of all, I didn't host it. But the show, called College Hoops2Night, will air five nights a week beginning in January. However, it will debut in a scattered form beginning Nov. 29, and continue to run through December with nine hour-long shows. Most shows will be on at midnight ET on ESPN after SportsCenter, and on Sundays on ESPN2. Hopefully you'll tune in.
On a whole, what do you see the Virginia Cavaliers doing this year in the ACC? How do they finish? Does the loss of Majestic Mapp slow down the rebuilding Pete Gillen has done in Charlottesville?
Mapp's injury shouldn't slow the rebuilding job. Gillen has a shot to get to the NCAAs this season. The Cavaliers have the quickness, defensive pressure and scoring ability to make a run at the top four in the ACC again. Remember, Virginia finished with a better record than North Carolina in the ACC last season but didn't get a bid.
I'm a huge St. Bonaventure fan and am a little annoyed at the lack of respect that our team is getting this year. I guess it's to be expected with the loss of three good players, but it seems that people like yourself (who know a lot about college basketball) would be a little more informed. We return a solid four players, and have added a star. We will not finish eighth or ninth like everyone says this year, thanks in part to the addition of Kevin Houston. My question is, why is he not getting any respect on the college basketball scene? No one mentions him when talking about top newcomers, however he will be the BEST newcomer in the league this year, easily. Could you please shed some light for the rest of the nation on the best player no one's ever heard of?
Pete Robinson
Charlotte, N.C.
You're right. We were wrong. The Bonnies looked great in beating Fresno State. Kevin Houston was a great find for the Bonnies and dominated the Bulldogs on the wing. But the surprise in the Atlantic 10 might be the play of 5-foot-7 freshman Marques Green. The Bulldogs couldn't keep him out of the lane.
What are the chances that Tubby Smith will be leaving Kentucky at the end of the season for an NBA coaching job?
Ryan Monroe
Middleburg, Ky.
The chances are decent if the right offer comes along. If Smith can go to a team where he has a chance to win, then he could bolt. It would have been nearly impossible to do it last spring with Saul Smith still in school.
Andy, the fact that LSU is down to six scholarship players is a tragedy to the game of college basketball! How could the NCAA do this to a program, especially one where the violators were gone three years ago? This issue should be settled on a court, but not a basketball court!
Jason Ksobiech
New Orleans
You're right. It's not fair that John Brady has to inherit the problems of the previous staff. But to Brady's credit, he got LSU to the Sweet 16 last year. If he can recover from this mess, he deserves the coach of the year award.
Dear Mr. Katz: While many people complain about high school stars going straight to the NBA, I don't feel that it is a major problem. The universities are not losing anything because they never had these players to begin with. I also feel that if a player is truly special, he can still make a difference on a program if he only stays two years. I believe it's the players who only stay for a single season that are hurting programs and college basketball in general. Do you see this as a major problem and do you think that the NCAA will try to take preventive measures against the "one-and-done"?
I disagree. It does hurt the game, but players who stay for only one year can still benefit a program, a coach and the players around him. Teammates of players who leave early have told me they were glad they got a chance to play with a future pro.
I was reading your comments on preseason exempted tournaments and I think that last year's Iowa State team is a prime example of a team that benefited tremendously from a tournament at a neutral site. The Cyclones lost to Drake in their second game of the year, then went to play in the Big Island Invitational. They won their first two games and met up with No. 1 Cincinnati in the finals. They hung with them and only lost to the Bearcats by eight. That tournament and the confidence that it gave the Cyclones really jump-started their season. We had a great season from that point on.
Send your comments to conference commissioners. They need to hear more statements like this.
In the late 1980s or early '90s I watched the Illinois high school state championship, and a team from Chicago (Simeon or King) had a player named Jonnie Selvie. This player had to wear one of those ankle bands so the Cook County Police could keep track of him. After he was done with school, I believe this player also had to serve jail time. Is this the same player who now plays for UConn?
Darren R. Poorman
Arthur, Ill.
That's not the same guy. You're thinking of a player who ended up playing at New Mexico State. Come on, how could it be the same guy? He'd be a 10th-year senior.
With the possibility of Carlos Boozer going pro, what are Duke's chances to sign one of the few remaining big man high school seniors? Also, should I be concerned as a Duke fan that they were only able to sign Daniel Ewing during the early signing period?
Gailen Veurink
Savage, Minn.
Duke does need to get another big man if Boozer's "people" in his summer circles are telling the truth. They're already looking for Boozer to bolt to the NBA. If that's the case, then the Blue Devils will need another big body.
Could you please explain to me how a 6-9, 280-pound player with little athleticism is going to play small forward? I mean, saying that Dennis Lattimore is going to play there in college is a little bit of a stretch, but saying that Isaiah Fox can play on the perimeter is beyond laughable. Please don't feed us junk. It isn't constructive in any way or form, and just creates expectations from the team's supporters that the young men could just do without. Fox is good at being a post player in the half court. Don't make him out to be something he's not. You have a responsibility to report the truth.
Kesera, I was only reporting what the Arizona staff is trying to do. It might not work, but they want to make Lattimore and Fox combo forwards in the absence of Rickert and likely Richard Jefferson. They might have no shot to do it, but they say they're going to try.
Why are parents required to sign a letter-of-intent for their student-athlete? Rick Rickert wanted to go to Arizona, but his parents wouldn't sign the letter-of-intent, so he ends up going to Minnesota. I didn't need my parents' signatures when I decided what college I wanted to go to. Why is it different for student-athletes? It seems like the kid should be able to make up his/her own mind.
It's the rule. Anyone under 21 has to get a guardian to sign a letter.
Andy Katz answers questions on college basketball every Friday throughout the year.
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