Hump Day Headlines

In this April Fool's Edition of Hump Day Headlines, no fooling anyone in the AP All American Picks, the Broncos have finally decided to trade Jay Cutler, coaches not named John Calipari get new deals, and how far did the Notre Dame basketball program fall in just one year...

• The AP First Team All-American team was announced yesterday, and all five picks seem obvious to me. Oklahoma's Blake Griffin was a unanimous pick (shocker!), while North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Davidson's Stephen Curry, Pittburgh's DeJuan Blair, and Arizona State's James Harden rounded out the rest of the first team. All five players are obviously deserving, and they show that while the college game has lost some great players to the NBA, there are still some fantastic players at the top in college basketball. How good these guys will be at the next level? It's hard to say. Blake Griffin will probably be the top pick in the draft, and figures to be an impact player right away. Scott was clearly not impressed with James Harden. Tyler Hansbrough's draft status is unclear, Steph Curry may or may not go pro this year (and if he does, is he the next J.J. Redick?) and DeJuan Blair might be too short to be an impact player as a back to the basket 6'7" forward. Whether they're good or not though at the professional level, let's enjoy the fact we got to watch these guys be great college hoopsters. As an avid college hoops fan, I enjoyed watching all of them.
• The Denver Broncos soap opera released its latest episode today: the news that they will in fact deal their star quarterback somewhere. Jay Cutler will be on the move, and it appears that there are at least six teams that will be involved in some capacity to try and acquire the Pro Bowler's services. The Jets, Buccaneers, Bears, Lions, 49ers and Browns are all apparently interested, and the Jaguars "may" be interested. (You know who I'm rooting for in that sweepstakes.) There are also reports circulating that the Redskins might be interested even though they have Jason Campbell. Before you start complaining that this story is getting annoying, let me remind you one simple fact: at least we're not talking about T.O. or the Cowboys.
• Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson was awarded with a new seven year contract worth between 1.3 and 1.5 million dollars per year. This comes after he impressively took the Tigers to the Elite Eight this season. The former UAB head man has shown why he always had the Blazers competing down there and now at a bigger school his coaching efforts have realized their potential. Good for him. Another coach rewarded for his success was former Washington State head coach Tony Bennett, who has moved on to the ACC and the University of Virginia. Bennett will be paid $1.7 million annually after he lead Wazzu to a 68-30 record in three seasons out west. People need to start getting used to the fact that the football and basketball coaches are now the highest paid people at many Division I Universities.
• Finally, remember when Notre Dame was a top ten team at the beginning of this college basketball season? This must seem like eons ago, because the Fighting Irish finished off a highly disappointing season by losing in the NIT Semifinals to Penn State. Notre Dame finished just 21-15, and Mike Brey must be searching for answers after he had second team all-American Luke Harangody (overrated, but still) Kyle McAlarney, Ryan Ayers and Tory Jackson on that team. Far too much talent to finish the way they did. Maybe Mr. Mock-Turtle himself should be considered for the hot seat? What a horrific year for Notre Dame sports teams. First more mediocrity from Chuck Weis, now this.

A Top 5 Pick? I Don't Know About That

Let me first state, for the record, that sites like DraftExpress.com and NBADraft.net are fun only on a purely cursory level.

Get an idea of who is going where in the draft in a given year, have some fun with their ridiculous prediction about your favorite team not in the lottery (rendering their opinions entirely useless), and read over the NBA comparisons for your favorite college players.

As a quick aside, the comparisons on NBADraft.net seem to always follow a similar pattern, which is that the two people being compared more often than not look like one another.  Check it out.  Or here.  (Maybe not so much here).

But, that last one brings me to the point of this post, James Harden.

The Pac-10 player of the year has drawn comparisons to everyone from Baron Davis to Manu Ginobili to Jason Terry.  Even though he lead the conference in scoring and shot near 50% from the field, probably the most important stat the sophomore could boast about were his shots per game.  Harden averaged just under 13 attempts a game, truly incredible when you consider he scored over 20 a contest.  

All this was well and good.  Until last week.

Now, I'm not one to trash a guy based on two tournament games, or say that he won't ever be any good based solely on a few contests.  However, any team drafting in the top 5 with ideas of taking this guy has to be thinking twice.

Passive wouldn't even begin to describe the way Harden played.  Against Temple in the first round, Harden made only one field goal all game (and it came in the second half).  His next game (and possibly his last as a Sun Devil, though he's being quiet on that front as of now) wasn't much better.  Scoring only 10 points in a loss to Syracuse, Harden was largely uninvolved, passive, and seemingly uninterested in taking shots, going to the rim, or taking over.  You know that he can do it, he just didn't seem like he either cared to or wanted to.  

Skill level doesn't seem to be an issue with Harden, at least from what I've seen.  He won't be in the dunk contest any time soon, and he's certainly not an Olympian as far as athleticism is concerned.  But, he can shoot, he can get to the hole, and he can fill it up efficiently (something not often seen nowadays...cough O.J. Mayo cough).  All that said, if he doesn't have the killer instinct, a top 5 pick could a bit high.

It may be that James Harden picked the worst possible time to have three of his worst games of his college career (Pac-10 championship, and those 1st two rounds of the NCAAs).  But, on the other hand, this passive play and lack of (ugh, I hate to say it, the cliche police should arrest me right this second) heart could be a more realistic indicator of what a team can expect from him.

I won't completely write Harden off just yet.  But I will say that he can't get by on simply "being good" in the NBA because, quite honestly, he isn't that much better than anyone at the next level.  I hope for his sake he's not as apathetic as he's looked in his last 3 games.

Today's March Madness Schedule

Early Games:

(3) Syracuse vs (14) Stephen F. Austin (Miami, FL) 12:15 p.m. ET

Comment:  This blog continues assuming Syracuse wins tomorrow.  If they lose, Scott may be taking over permanently as I'll be eyeing the view from the top of the Sears Tower.

(8) Oklahoma State vs (9) Tennessee (Dayton, OH) 12:25 p.m. ET

Comment: Tennessee is determined to stick up for the S.E.C. the way L.S.U. did yesterday.  However, I like the Pokes in this one because the Big 12 is a better conference and O.K. State is more battle tested.  Plus, how can you root for Bruce Pearl when he's going to sweat through a bright orange sport jacket?  Yuck.

(6) Marquette vs (11) Utah State (Boise, ID) 12:30 p.m. ET

Comment:  If Dominic James was healthy, I'd tell you that Utah State has no shot in this game.  I still like Marquette, but Utah State should make things interesting.  

(3) Kansas vs (14) North Dakota State (Minneapolis, MN) 12:30 p.m. ET

Comment:  The defending champs have a tough draw with a N.D. State team that is full of seniors and is in the tourney for the first time.  And coach Saul Phillips is a protege of Wisconsin's great coach Bo Ryan.  But KU is far too athletic for the Bisons to stay in it.  Rock. Chalk.  Jayhawk.

Mid-Afternoon Games:

(6) Arizona State vs (11) Temple (Miami, FL) 2:45 p.m. ET

Comment:  I know it's stylish to pick Temple here, but the A-10 is down this year, and the Sun Devils have an NBA player in James Harden.  I like the fellas from Tempe in this one.

(1) Pittsburgh vs (16) East Tennessee State (Dayton, OH) 2:55 p.m. ET

Comment:  If you're picking against Pitt in this one, well, you're an idiot.  This should be a 40-point win for the Panthers.

(3) Missouri vs (14) Cornell (Boise, ID) 3:00 p.m. ET

Comment:  Missouri had a great year out of the Big 12 that not many would have expected, and they have a good draw, against a Cornell squad that will produce probably a few future hotel managers.  But not basketball players.

(6) West Virginia vs (11) Dayton (Minneapolis, MN) 3:00 p.m. ET

Comment:  Bob Huggins is doing some good things at his alma mater, and usually does well in the tournament.  Dayton had a great year out of the A-10 winning 26 games, but while there's a regional playing on the Flyers home court, this game is in the Hump Dome.  I'll take W.V.U.

Evening Games:

(1) Louisville vs (16) Morehead State (Dayton, OH) 7:10 p.m. ET

Comment:  During the play-out game, some Morehead State fan was wearing a t-shirt that said "Bring on Pitino".  That was dumb, because the 'Ville is going to crush this team.  

(5) Utah vs (12) Arizona (Miami, FL) 7:10 p.m. ET

Comment:  Maybe Arizona didn't deserve to make the tourney in the first place, but they have 3 good players that can help them beat Utah.  Jordan Hill, Nic Wise, and Chase Budinger.  I like the upset here.  

(7) Boston College vs (10) U.S.C. (Minneapolis, MN) 7:20 p.m. ET

Comment:  For some reason, I like U.S.C. here.  Granted, the ACC is a better conference than the Pac-10, but I think Timmy Floyd's crew rides the momentum from their miraculous Pac-10 Tournament win.

(4) Xavier vs (13) Portland State (Boise, ID) 7:25 p.m. ET

Comment:  Some people are picking this upset.  I don't know a damn thing about Portland State.  That's why I picked Xavier.

Late Games:

(8) Ohio State vs (9) Siena (Dayton, OH) 9:40 p.m. ET

Comment:  I would have picked Siena, but somehow the Buckeyes got a home game.  So I'll take Ohio State.

(4) Wake Forest vs (13) Cleveland State (Miami, FL) 9:40 p.m. ET

Comment:  Cleveland State is a dangerous team, coming off the Horizon League Championship and going up against a titan in Wake Forest with nothing to lose.  Yet I couldn't pull the trigger, and took Dino Gaudio's club.

(2) Michigan State vs (15) Robert Morris (Minneapolis, MN) 9:50 p.m. ET

Comment:  My dad thinks Robert Morris could win this game.  He's also ranked last in our bracket challenge currently.  Sparty wins.

(5) Florida State vs (12) Wisconsin (Boise, ID) 9:55 p.m. ET

Comment:  I picked Florida State because they have a ton of motivation to win this.  Their program is mired in NCAA violations now, and this is probably their last shot for a few years to  win anything.  Tough to doubt Bo Ryan though.