As it often does, the NCAA Tournament provided a wild first weekend. Mercer saved Warren Buffett $1 billion, Dayton won the state of Ohio and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years, Stanford sent Andrew Wiggins and Kansas packing, and the young Kentucky Wildcats ended Wichita State’s dream season. So out of the 32 second and third-round games won by the 16 teams still in contention for the national championship, what statistical trends and insights can we gain
College football, it seems, is in a realm unto itself among sports. It evokes pride and intense passion—particularly among fans. The passion for college football is evident in sheer numbers. Don’t believe me? Let the attendance of the big game between Michigan and Notre Dame tell the tale. [Read more…]
Let’s preface this scouting report with some harsh realities for Trey Burke: A point guard renaissance has taken over the NBA. The point guards whom we typically think of as “league average,” and who probably would have been considered league average several years ago, are actually something quite different these days. Take a player like Jrue Holiday as a prime example of how deep the position has become. I wrote a raving column about Holiday’s development in late March and prematurely anointed him as
When it comes to the NBA draft, sometimes it’s the team, not the player. Take Thomas Robinson, for example. He was a consensus All-American as a junior and led Kansas to the national title game. By virtually all accounts, he was projected as a solid NBA player. But Robinson, a power forward, was drafted by the Sacramento Kings, who already had DeMarcus Cousins, Jason Thompson and Chuck Hayes manning their big positions. So Robinson languished on the bench for half a season before
CHICAGO — It was not a make or break situation, but when you walked into the gym for the NBA pre-draft camp on Chicago’s west side – filled with scouts, general managers, coaches, media and everyone in between – you could feel the intensity in the air. [Read more…]
The deadline to enter the 2013 NBA Draft was Sunday, and we now know this much — the 2013 draft will be OK at best. The 2014 draft? It’ll be one for the ages. [Read more…]
Monday brought forth a great many things, but NBA games were not one of them. So, what was the big news on a day when the dominating headlines all built up to the NCAA National Championship game? The 2013 Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductees were formally announced Monday at a ceremony in Atlanta, host site of the NCAA Final Four. [Read more…]
Things have changed since we published Mock 1.0 on April 1. The NCAA field is down to four teams, and a couple of the players in our Top 30 have decided to return to school or wait another year in Europe (Darko Saric). Hence, Mock 1.0.1. [Read more…]