Archive for July, 2006
After deciding not to match the Spurs’ offer sheet for Jackie Butler, the Knicks’ have gone after Wizards’ bigman Jared Jeffries with a huge mid-level offer of five years for $30 million. While it’s common for bigmen (Jeffries is 6′11″) to be overpaid, Jeffries has been very average offensively in his four seasons in the NBA, averaging only 6.4 points and 4.9 rebounds last season. Jeffries can run the floor a little and is a fairly stout defender however. Isiah Thomas might be envisioning a Boris Diaw-type role for Jeffries in the new uptempo offense he plans to run in New York although the difference here is Jeffries has already shown what his ceiling is and it’s lower than Diaw’s. If the Wizards decide not to match the Knicks’ offer (which is up in the air at this point), Jeffries will join Jerome James on the list of bad Knicks free agent signings.
VCU was riding high. Their men’s basketball team had been steadily growing in national stature under head coach and Mike Krzyzewski disciple Jeff Capel, who had recently reached terms on a contract extension with the school that inked him until 2012.
But then a chain of events that began with Mike Davis’ firing from Indiana and Kelvin Sampson’s subsequent decision to leave Oklahoma to take the Hoosiers’ job in turn thrusted Jeff Capel from his perch in Richmond to the bigger stage of the Big 12 and Norman. VCU was suddenly without a coach. Although it was always expected that a coach with Capel’s promise and pedigree would one day leave for more prominent pastures, the Rams had thought that day was still a few years off.
Although stunned, VCU acted quickly and followed the same strategy they implemented when they first hired Capel in targeting a promising young assistant coach from a top national program with tutoring from a coaching great. Enter Anthony Grant.
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Reason #96: New VCU Head Coach Anthony Grant Brings Gator-bite to Richmond
Love him or hate him, one of the more consistently enjoyable blogs to read on the web is Mark Cuban’s “Blogmaverick.com”. In his latest post, he provides some interesting perspectives on the direction of basketball development in the United States.
His main point is that high school, club, and college basketball are a mess right now and it’s only a matter of time before there is a seismic shift in development of players towards more of the European-style “academy” system. Players would get placed into programs early in their teens and begin getting paid like professionals in a full-time basketball developmental program. There would be an academic component of course, but that would be integrated into the process with basketball development as a primary focus.
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Where is college basketball headed? Mark Cuban’s thoughts
It's an old adage that everybody loves the big guy, but for LSU junior Glen Davis, aka "Big Baby", who captured the national consciousness in LSU's pursuit of the NCAA title last season in no small part through his infectious smile and rotund waistline, the love of the big guy didn't extend to NBA scouting departments. Overshadowed in NBA draft talk by teammate and eventual lottery pick Tyrus Thomas, Davis decided to return to school for his junior season and in the process seems to have channeled the powers of fellow Lousiana native Richard Simmons.
Rather than resting on his laurels from a phenomenal 2005-2006 season which saw him honored as the SEC's Player of the Year and an AP 2nd Team All-American, Davis has been one of the pleasant surprises of summer trimming down from his playing weight last season of 326 pounds to his current almost-svelte 287 pounds, which he put on display at the Nike Camp's counselor game last week matching up against Georgetown's Roy Hibbert. Observers were impressed by Davis' increased athleticism and mobility while still being able to utilize his strength and still sizable frame.
Davis' improved overall game will be counted on by LSU coach John Brady, who will attempt to replicate last season's success. Davis, who averaged 18.6 points and 9.6 rebounds a game, should be able to improve those numbers as he will be the undisputed go-to guy due to the loss of not only Tyrus Thomas but also guard Darrell Mitchell who was the team's second-leading scorer behind Davis.
Even if LSU fails to measure up to last season's team with wins and losses, Big Baby is undoubtedly one of the best players in the entire country and a strong contender for national player of the year and first team All-American honors, particularly if his weight loss becomes a permanent commitment. As sensational as he was last season, the best is probably yet to come for Glen Davis who should find the NBA waters a tad more friendly next year.
Reference Links after the jump….
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Reason #97 to be Excited about the ‘06-’07 Season: LSU’s Big Baby Slim
Quick hit of a couple of recent headlines….
Texas approves $500K pay raise for Rick Barnes
Texas, flush with football money, seems serious about keeping up the momentum the basketball program is building by keeping Barnes' salary at a competitive national level, going from $1.2 million to $1.8 million, and increasing his bonus for making the NCAA's to $125k.
With the program Barnes has developed, the 'Horns will continue to be a national power and a title threat, especially if they can continue to land top national prospects like Kevin Durant while keeping the best Texas players in-state (a tougher task given A&M's resurgence).
Mid-Major Recruiting Struggles
The AP reports that even in the wake of George Mason's Final Four run, mid-major coaches are still running against the tide in the battle for top recruits. The article highlights that the best recruiting targets for mid-majors are the fringe guys who are talented enough to make a top tier team, but not likely to contribute right away. Mid-majors can sell playing time and a starting role rather than be stuck riding the pine at a more prominent program.
Although Mason's run was phenomenal, the next few years will be the true test for the mid-majors. The NBA's new CBA ensures that the top prospects will be playing at least a season of college basketball and those players will almost universally be at traditional powers, which could make for a lot less room at the top.
For anyone who watched this year's McDonald's All-American Game Dunk Contest, the lasting image isn't of the winner (for the record it was future Blue Devil Gerald Henderson), but rather of the man who stole the show with several mindblowing dunks, future Arizona Wildcat Chase Budinger.
Budinger, a San Diego native, is arguably even better at volleyball than basketball. He won the Mizuno High School Volleyball Player of the Year Award this season and was a mainstay on the U.S. Junior National Team. That's not to say he isn't a fantastic basketball player as well, as he was named the California Player of the Year and is widely considered the best basketball prospect out of San Diego since another goofy red-headed dude named Bill Walton.
Although they both come from San Diego, Budinger's game should not be confused with Walton's at all. A solid 6-8, Budinger blends the raw explosiveness that comes from his volleyball background with a great sense of the game and overall athleticism. I think his natural position is at small forward, although he could excel equally as well at shooting guard or even power forward if needed in a pinch. One observer has compared him to another former Wildcat, Sean Elliott, and I think the comparison is apt. Whether his game ends up being as complete as Elliott's was is left to be seen, but Budinger does have a level of athleticism that Elliott never had.
He'll have a chance to play tons of minutes early for Arizona Coach Lute Olson as Budinger can easily step in the small forward spot vacated by NBA draftee Hassan Adams. With a veteran point guard in Mustafa Shakur there will be plenty of opportunities for Budinger to display his scoring touch.
And while there was some thought that Budinger was going to continue to try to continue his volleyball career at the high national levels, he dispelled a lot that concern in a recent interview at NBADraft.net where he more or less said that his volleyball career was over and his focus was entirely on basketball.
Budinger's success should at the very least give basketball hopefuls a reason to consider taking up some volleyball as well, as the jumping and attacking instincts learned from the sport can add some depth to one's basketball abiliites.
Links after the jump:
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Reason #98 to be Excited About the ‘06-’07 Season: Arizona’s Flying White Boy
The first of the conference previews are starting to hit the web and right out of the chute is ESPN with a pretty decent writeup on the Big 12 as part of their "Summer Session" series. They are favoring Kansas and the Texas Aggies to win the North and South Divisions respectively. Some of the more interesting subplots from the Big 12 that are mentioned include Texas (lost tons of players to NBA, but lots of talent still there including 5-star recruit Kevin Durant) and Baylor (finally off punishment & a very good foundation to work with). Some of the new coaches in the league also make for intriguiging situations, including Bob Huggins' arrival at Kansas State and Jeff Capel's moving from mid-major VCU to Oklahoma. Andy Katz actually has a pretty good profile recently put up on Capel linked here. On a national scale, the Big 12 might have a slightly reduced profile this season given all of the tumult about the conference. Kansas is very good however, and will definitely be in the national title picture. Texas A&M is the darling team, but I still have my doubts about whether they are truly elite level yet.
While researching the SMU story from yesterday, I googled Jon “Contract” Koncak’s name to see what the former Mustang was up to these days. Thinking I’d see the typical real estate company or the like, I instead uncovered a secret society wilder than anything in the DaVinci Code. It’s not really about college basketball, but it’s so darn strange I had to report it.
Some random entertainment company called Manka Brothers, which claims to be the world’s “largest media company”, has what is the most wheels off Corporate Board that I’ve ever seen. Not only is Jon Koncak, the man who was once paid more than Michael Jordan and Larry Bird a member, he’s joined by Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, the very blind Jose Feliciano, the whatever happened to her Diahann Carroll, hottie (well, kinda) former Tampa Bay Lightning training camp invitee Manon Rheaume, and a bunch of corporate-type no-names.
The whole thing amused me at first but then became really disturbing the more I thought about it. Any assemblage this random has to be up to some nefarious activities. If there is any better proof than this that there is a secret group of individuals that pull all of society’s strings, I haven’t found it yet.
It’s just strange, really strange. I’m out of words, judge for yourself here
P.S. Check out the jobs section….one has a starting salary of $225k (but they’re willing to negotiate)
