My Beloved 81 Bloggees (Welcome Dick and Martin and Goodbye Harry):
Two stats especially jumped out to me from the box score of Thursday night's Vanderbilt 81 - 74 victory at Mississippi State, the two schools next on the Gator schedule http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101270366 . First of all, my cherished shooter, Vandy's John Jenkins, scored 21 points with a Kenny Boynton-like 9 for 9 from the free throw line. Secondly, controversial freshman MSU big man, Renardo Sydney played just 13 minutes before he fouled out.
I expect Billy D, on Saturday in Starkville, to pound the ball inside and get Sydney out of the game with fouls. On Tuesday, I presume he will utilize the same strategy with Jenkins that was done against Arkansas's Rotnei Clarke...have Boynton and Scottie Wilbekin shadow Jenkins wherever he goes on the offensive end. We'll see. NEXT
Isiah Thomas is having a tough second year with his Florida International University Panthers. After Friday night's 81 - 78 home loss to Western Kentucky, FIU is 8 - 12, 3 - 5 in the Sun Belt Conference http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/fam/schedule . In addition, he has been a nightmare from a PR standpoint with respect to his desire to be a New York Knicks consultant while serving as FIU head coach http://www.thegrio.com/sports/thomas-wont-return-to-knicks-as-consultant.php . Let's also not forget the legal troubles he had during his tenure as GM of the NBA club.
His initial campaign was also a poor one with a 7 - 25 overall record, 4 - 14 in the conference. I admired Isiah when he wore the Detroit Pistons uniform as a championship point guard, but since then, his resume is suspect. It would not surprise me if FIU cut their losses and went in a different direction after this year or sooner. NEXT
Remember the relentless rebounder from Morehead State who gave the Gators fits in November (20 points and 18 rebounds), Kenneth Faried. If I were an NBA GM, the 6' 8 230 lb senior would be high on my list for this next NBA Draft as the next Dennis Rodman or Kevin Love. On Thursday night Faried gathered 23 rebounds, 10 on the offensive end and scored 23 points on 8 for 11 shooting as Morehead defeated TN State 72 - 65 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101270375 NEXT
Against now # 1 ranked Ohio State in November, Faried had 15 points and 12 rebounds. In fact, he now has had 74 double-doubles in his career, tying him at no. 10 all-time with The Admiral, David Robinson from Navy and Keith (Definite) Lee, with the university formerly known as Memphis State. (Click on http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/dec/14/dream-02/ to read about Lee getting his diploma 23 years after leaving school). NEXT
Hoop fans in Charlottesville, Virginia cannot be happy after Thursday night's 66 - 42 pasting by Maryland at home http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101270618 . I understand injuries have forced "The Crooner", Tony Bennett, to play a young lineup including last year's Alabama high school sensation K. T. Harrell, the 6' 4 guard from Brewbaker Tech http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/97110 . A big load is on the shoulders of senior guard, Mustapha Farrakhan, grandson of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The 6' 4 guard averages 12.8 points a game but only scored 8 points against the Terrapins on 3 for 10 shooting and only 2 for 5 at the charity stripe.
The silver lining in the Virginia defeat is the way Bennett's defense shut down the much-heralded Maryland 6' 10 center, Jordan Williams, to 4 points, 13 below his average http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/88630 . How things would be different in Charlottesville if 6' 11 junior center Ralph Sampson III would have chosen his dad's alma mater instead of Minnesota. NEXT
Let's switch to race and basketball and how we have progressed in that area. Kevin Scarbinsky, the Gator basketball grad and sports columnist for the Birmingham News, is now a regular panelist on The Zone, the local affiliate's version of ESPN's The Sports Reporters. Last Sunday night, he made an excellent point regarding the Alabama - Auburn basketball game played a day earlier. It was the first time the two teams played and both coaches were African-American, Alabama's Anthony Grant and Auburn's Tony Barbee. (I never even thought about it) Scarbinsky mentioned that there was virtually no coverage of that "first" in the Iron Bowl basketball series, and that is progress when we are at the point when we don't even think about race in such a matchup. That is the way it should be, just as race is not considered when there is a battle of Caucasian coaches when Vanderbilt and Kevin Stallings plays Ole Miss and Andy Kennedy, for example. Great job, college basketball NEXT
To bowling, yes for a break, bowling...when I was a youngster in Orlando, I was a decent kegler. I competed in local leagues, city tournaments and state tournaments. I guess at best I had an average of 165 when I was about 14. The bad news is I peaked at that age and never got better (reminds me of former 2000 Gator freshman phenom, now Arkansas's current assistant coach, Brett Nelson). However, watching 1/2 of the following clip from last Saturday's Pro Bowling Tournament made me feel better about my bowling. You will know what I mean by "1/2 of the clip" by watching this amazing, funny and also gut-wrenching short video. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6050356 THAT'S IT
Enjoy....Gators play at noon CST on CBS against Mississippi State.....I will be watching hot-shooting Samford host an exhausted UNC Greensboro team who lost in double overtime Thursday night at Chattanooga, 111 - 110...great time of year,
Barry
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