My Beloved 82 Bloggees:
Look who is a freshman for the Michigan Wolverines? Jon Horford, brother of Al, is a 6' 9 220 lb forward averaging less than 3 bounds and 3 points a game http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/97333 . We need to watch him to see if he ramps up his game quickly like his sibling did at UF. NEXT
Who is the top Division 1 free throw shooter in the country? Emily London of Samford University. She has now shot 69 free throws and made 67 of them. Holy Toledo! That is 97.1 %. http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/teamcume.html If I were Billy Donovan, I would lock Gator seniors Vernon Macklin and Chandler Parsons inside a gym with Emily so she can help them add at least 25 percentage points to their free throw percentages. Shaq, are you also listening? NEXT
Here is the ever-changing BB (Barry's Blog) list of mid-major sleepers for the NCAA tourney, if they qualify (some might be from a one-bid league and they could get upset in the conference tourney):
1. Belmont - experienced tournament coach in Rick Byrd with solid overall team. Of their top 6 scoring players, only 2 start.
2. Old Dominion - infatuated with their consistent dominating rebounding. Frank Hassell at 6' 8 245 lb is the Monarch's enforcer.
3. Drexel - same conference as ODU so may be tough, but love their toughness under Bruiser Flynt.
4. Xavier - I might be developing a hoops man-crush on Tru Holloway who can score.
5. Wofford - will get a better feel after seeing them in Birmingham against Samford on February 16th but Noel Dahlman is already The Man. In his last five games, including Saturday when he went 15 of 17, the 6' 6 senior forward is shooting 74.7 percent from the field (56 of 75).
With regard to Belmont, the Jacksonville bloggees can see them free this Thursday night at 7:15 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, courtesy of a local seafood company. Nashville's music university will be challenged by my favorite scrappy squad, Jacksonville University, led by former Birmingham Huffman High star, 6' 5 senior forward Ayron Hardy a pesky ball thief in NCAA's top 40 with over 2 steals a game. I am hoping that game will be on http://www.channelsurfing.net/. NEXT
You Make Me Feel Old While I was watching the San Diego State - BYU game last Wednesday night, something got my attention and it wasn't the nation's leading scorer, the Cougars' Jimmer Fredette. I heard that the son of Lonnie Shelton, 6' 7 junior forward Tim Shelton, was playing for the Aztecs. No way...wasn't it just a few years ago when Lonnie helped the Seattle Supersonics and Downtown Freddie Brown win the NBA Championship. Sorry, Barry, it was over 31 years ago in 1979. Tim Shelton, You Make Me Feel Old.
Tim has had an injury-marred collegiate career http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=36425 including a medical redshirt year. It does not look like he will follow his father's path to the NBA. NEXT
If you love basketball sportcaster Bill Raftery like I do, then be sure to read this recent feature on him in the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703555804576102461442595674.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I saw Raftery coach Seton Hall in a holiday basketball tournament at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL a little less than 40 years ago. He stole the show with his numerous technical fouls and antics and reminded me of a Bobby Knight on the sidelines rather than his cool, folksy on the air persona. One of our bloggees, Dr. Glenn Wilkes, coached Stetson University in that tournament and surely remembers the "wild man".
If you can't get enough of Raftery, here is a great article from the New York Times written about him a couple of years ago but it still applies. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/sports/ncaabasketball/26sandomir.html NEXT
To football, The South rises again, specifically in Saturday's Senior Bowl, 24 -10. The only Gator who ended up playing was Chas Henry. The Ray Guy Award Winner punted 6 times for a 44.8 yard average, with two inside the 20. Both CB Ahmad Black and OT Marcus Gilbert were expected to play but sickness and injury prevented them from participating. . http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110129/BREAKINGNEWS/110129016/1006/NEWS01/UF+s+Black++Pouncey+miss+Senior+Bowl
To see how your school's players fared, click on http://www.seniorbowl.com/files/SENIOR11.HTM . THAT'S IT
Enjoy....Tony Barbee was impressive speaking to the Birmingham Tipoff Club today...Auburn will be special on the hardcourt very soon,
Barry
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