“It may take a few weeks to work out the kinks, but once the Heat get rolling, it’s on. Dwyane Wade will lead them in scoring and Chris Bosh may even score more than LeBron James. But LeBron will bring it all together by playing like a PG and averaging a near triple-double. Heat D will be wicked.”
– Chris Broussard, ESPN
“They (Heat) will break the single-season win record [of 72], and I think they have a legit shot at the Lakers’ 33-game [winning] streak [in 1971-72], as well. And only the Lakers have even a remote shot at beating them in a playoff series. They will never lose two games in a row this year. They have put together a much better roster than anybody could ever have expected,” Van Gundy added. “There is now no good way to defend them. They are unguardable. They are indefensible. They are just too good and have added so much shooting and are so versatile that they will score at will. And with Erik Spoelstra coaching, they will be in the top three defensive teams in the league, as well. The other 29 teams better hope the lockout gets moved up a year.” - Jeff Van Gundy, ESPN
“If I look at what the Bulls did winning 72 games and I look at the Heat roster, I am going to tell you that the Heat roster is better than any roster that Michael Jordan played with with the Bulls,” Stan Van Gundy said. “I don’t think that people predicting them breaking the win total and being in the 70s and the whole thing, I don’t think those are expectations that are out of line based on their roster. I don’t think there is any question that the roster the Heat have is as talented a roster if not more so as any roster there has ever been in the NBA.” - Stan Van Gundy, Orlando Magic Coach
and THAT'S why they play the games!
Great article here by ESPN's Bill Simmons on the NFL labor situation. The owners are being as greedy as you can possibly imagine. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110304
One week from today, the NCAA Field of 68 will be set. Most of you probably know plenty about the Ohio State's and Duke's of the world. In this space this week we will take a look at the smaller conference champions that have qualified for the big dance. Hopefully you can use some of this information to win our Bracket Challenge sponsored by Bud Light.
Register here: https://houston2011.mdmgames.com/tourney/login.aspx?
Morehead State University (24-9) Champions of the Ohio Valley Conference
What to like: The Eagles have a future NBA 1st round pick in the front court in Kenneth Faried who secured his 84th double double in his college career 2nd all time to Wake Forest's Tim Duncan. Faried is an excellent shot blocker and gets his hands on loose balls as well. Demonte Harper is a reliable perimeter weapon shooting 40% from 3.
Upset Potential: Probably should be a very live dog regardless of opponent. The Eagles gave Florida all they could handle in Gainsville earlier in the season and gave Ohio State a competitive game as well. The Eagles may have to participate in the play-in-game due to the weakness of their conference, but that game is a mere formality.
UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (19-13) Champions of the Big South
What to Like: Not much. The Bulldogs upset top seed Coastal Carolina twice to get here, but having watched both of their games, they are very undersized and have extremely poor ball handling. John Williams is an interesting player at power forward. He reminds me a bit of a poor man's Chuck Hayes.
Upset Potential: The Bulldogs are probably going to be one of the worst teams in the field. Blow out losses to Georgetown, Ohio State, and North Carolina suggest they will be one and done.
Belmont Bruins (30-4) Champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference
What's to like: This team is incredibly deep. Ten players on the roster average double digit minutes played. The Bruins shoot a ton of threes and connect on almost 40%. The Bruins have not lost a game in over a month, so they are playing with a ton of confidence.
Upset Potential: Belmont nearly took down Duke two years ago as a #15 seed. They will be much higher seeds this time around. As long as they don't have a horrific night shooting the ball, Belmont will be in their round one contest. If I were to take a stab at a double digit seed that could make it the 2nd weekend of the tournament, I might pick Belmont.
Indiana State Sycamores (20-13) Champions of the Missouri Valley
What's to like: The Sycamores do a decent job of controlling tempo because they refuse to run regardless of the circumstances of the game.
Upset Potential: Not much. They don't shoot 3's particularly well and are likely to get out-athleted at every position. They lost to Purdue and Notre Dame during regular season play. I would imagine the Sycamores are one and done.
Happy Birthday Jenna Fischer: There's no longer anything sneaky about your hotness.
Who says White Men Can't Jump? This is Jacob Tucker, a 5'11'' guard from Illinois College who would like to participate in the college slam dunk contest.
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