Sark hauled in a big one.

Bobby Jones goes beast tubing on some Itals.

Major Lazer “Pon De Floor” from Eric Wareheim on Vimeo.

At the next party I go to you can bet I will be trying to spear a lucky lady from the top of a step ladder.

…and then I want to make sure I never have to play poker with those people.

I don’t know why I consider this a milestone, but I do.

In fact, I wonder where the UW 5 would finish if every school with 5 NBA players played a little tournament.  I have a feeling UW would do ok (middle of the pack), due in large part to the fact that it’s a pretty balanced team.  Will Conroy at the 1, Nate Robinson at the 2, Brandon Roy at the 3, Jon Brockman at the 4, and Spencer Hawes at the 5.

The UW team would struggle in the post as Brockman and Hawes are not athletic enough.  The Roy / Robinson duo would be tough to stop though (those guys won like 2 National Championships at UW right?  Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson… on the same college team…. for several seasons… unreal.  It is shocking that team didn’t do better in the NCAA’s considering it also had Will Conroy and Bobby Jones, two other fringe NBA talents).

Anyways, some preliminary research indicates that some colleges are better at creating NBA talent than others.  Of those schools that have at least 5 NBA players, here is what I think:

BEST TEAMS

#1 – If you are wondering who’d win this competition that I just made up – my best guess is Wake Forest.  Chris Paul, Tim Duncan, and Josh Howard…… Add in Darius Songalia and James Johnson (or Jeff Teague, or anyone else really) and I think that’s your winner.  It’s balanced and it has 2 legitimate superstars and a third all-star in Josh Howard.  Game, Set, Match.

#2 -North Carolina would probably finish a close second.  Top to bottom they may have the best team with depth, but I just don’t see a way to crack that trio of Duncan, Paul, Howard.  I’d say UNC’s starting 5 would be Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Sheed, Marvin Williams, and maybe Ray Felton.  The Tarheels are getting old though.  Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Felton add some new blood, but the core group of the Tarheel alums in the NBA will all have retired in the next 4-5 seasons (this includes Brendan Haywood and Jerry Stackhouse, who didn’t make the starting 5).  I’m sure more will take their place.

#3 – Zona.  Can Gilbert Arenas play in this fake tournament I created?  You bet your ass he can play, and I bet he would too (call me).  Would give him something to do other than go to jail.  And his Arizona team, along with Mike Bibby, Jerryd Bayless, Andre Iguodala,  and Richard Jefferson would be pretty solid.  Throw in Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, and Channing Frye off the bench and this team would be a serious competitor.  Almost as good as UNC.  In fact, as I write this, I’m not convinced they wouldn’t beat UNC.  Oh well, too late to go back now.  I’d have to delete stuff and move stuff around and that ain’t happening.  Zona is #3.

#4 – UConn.  They have a lot of solid NBA talent.  Rudy Gay, Ray Allen and company (typing more about them would take more effort than I’m willing to put forth) would acquit themselves nicely. Ok ok – Thabeet, Butler, and Ben Gordon round out starting 5.  Villenueva off the bench for spice.

DISAPPOINTING TEAMS

Of the schools who have 5 players in the league, these are who I found to be rather disappointing:

#1 -  Kentucky.  Other than Rajon Rondo, the Cats’ NBA squad is thin.  Tayshaun Prince would be the second best player, and Kelenna Azubuike, Nazr Mohammed, and Keith Bogans would round out their starting 5.  All in all, I was expecting more out of the Kentucky alums in the NBA.  I mean, John Callipari’s Kentucky team right now may be able to beat that starting five.  Seriously, John Wall, Patrick Patterson, Demarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe?  Those 4 would be hard for the NBA bunch to stop.  Plus they make more than the NBA players do, but then they have Callipari who’s a better agent than most NBA agents.

#2 -California.  Jason Kidd.  End of story.  Well not the end, more like the end of that sentence really.  Because I still have to mention Leon Powe, Ryan Anderson, Sean Marks, and Elson Francisco.  I’m pretty sure Marks and Francisco are just made up because I have no recollection of them ever playing at Cal, but whatever, ESPN.com says they are in the NBA so that’s good enough for me.  This team, however, would fare poorly in my College/NBA round robin.  I wonder if Tony Gonzalez would be willing to suit up for this.  Would give them a better chance.

#3 – USC.  For the all money SC pays its football and basketball players, you’d think the Trojans could have cobbled together some more NBA talent.  Instead, it’s OJ Mayo, Demar Derozan, Taj Gibson, Brian Scalabrine, and Nick Young.  For a team that plays in LA, openly flaunts NCAA regulations, and can ride the coattails of the football program, that’s pretty sad.

THE REST

Here are the colleges that had 5 or more NBA players at the start of the 2009 season:

Duke                        14
UCLA                        14
Connecticut                 13
North Carolina              13
Arizona                     10
Florida                      9
Kansas                       9
Kentucky                     9
Georgia Tech                 7
Ohio St.                     7
Texas                        7
LSU                          6
Memphis                      6
Michigan St.                 6
Syracuse                     6
Wake Forest                  6
California                   5
Southern Cal                 5
Villanova                    5

You’ll note that UW is not on  this list.  That is because Will Conroy was just signed to a 10 day contract today, January 28.  You may also note that in 11 days, this post could be meaningless as once again UW will likely only have 4 players in the NBA.  So basically this tournament I’m proposing has to happen immediately.  Next week at the latest.

For Hotdog

Gonzaga  isn’t mentioned in this post because they don’t have 5 NBA players.  But if I reduced this competition down to 3 on 3,  Gonzaga could compete and the trio of Ronny Turiaf, Austin Daye, and Adam Morrison could finish dead last in that competition.  Morrison would probably love it though, because it would give him a chance to actually play in a game and go 11 for 39 from the field with 1 assist and 2 rebounds (48 minutes of playing time).  It would be just like old times.

And so what if I like Frasier? That was an excellent show that has aged quite nicely.

Howland Goes Zone

Despite being a man defense team – UCLA went into a 2-3 zone almost immediately tonight, apparently taking a page out of Arizona State’s playbook.  The Huskies have struggled against the zone this season, as outside shooting has been sporadic.  Tonight the Huskies came out hot and initially shot the 3 with deadly precision, building a nice lead on 3-pointers from Suggs, Turner, and Pondexter.  But Howland played the odds, stuck with the zone, and soon the outside shots stopped falling.  Once that happened – UW’s offense stalled.  Passing the ball aimlessly around the perimeter, it was clear the Huskies did not have any ideas on how to break the zone.

This is frustrating.  It is frustrating that Ben Howland can make 1 simple adjustment – going zone when UW expected man – and have it completely disrupt the UW offense for most of a game.  The 2-3 zone should be no surprise to the Huskies by now – and they should be better against it.

Substitution Patterns

Last week against the Northern California schools, Romar established a clear substitution pattern.  He pared down the rotation and allowed players to gain a rhythm.  Tonight, last week’s rotation was turned on its head.  I have to wonder if MBA was injured, because he barely stepped on the floor.  In the first half of the game, Tyrese Breshers played well for UW, blocking several shots and rebounding well.  But in crunchtime tonight, Romar went with Darnell Gant in the post.

UCLA went right at him.  5 of UCLA’s last 7 points came off of Gant, while Breshers sat on the bench.

Pondexter

Perhaps my biggest concern is that Quincy Pondexter was allowed to disappear in the second half tonight.  As UCLA rode the hot hand of Reeves Nelson, UW inexplicably went away from Pondexter after his 15 point first half.  How was this allowed to happen?  There is no excuse.  If the offense isn’t getting Quincy the ball – call a timeout and draw up a play for him.  Get him involved. In 3 road games in a row now Pondexter has been eliminated from the offense late.  That is tough to understand.

Ultimately, I’ve kind of  come to the conclusion that this UW team is not consistent enough to be taken seriously.  They dominate at home and ride the momentum of the home crowd, but when you take away sheer adrenaline, the basketball fundamentals of this team are mediocre.  The offense is entirely dependent on 2 things – rebounds and turnovers.  Plain and simple, when UW outrebounds its opponents and forces turnovers, they create extra possessions and speed up the tempo of the game.  This leads to a situation like week 3 in conference play, where in 2 games against Stanford and California the Huskies had 57 more field goal attempts than their opponents.  Naturally, they won both of those games.  But in a game on the road, against a Ben Howland or a Herb Sendek  (who are able to get their teams to slow the tempo of the game down and force the Huskies to play a half court offense) UW really struggles.

UW lost a game tonight against a UCLA team that it should have dominated.  The best 2 players on the court played for the Huskies.  The Huskies were more athletic at almost every position.  UW were by far the deeper squad.  And despite all that – the Bruins managed to win the game.  I have a hard time understanding how that happens.

To say that the Seahawks current offseason is one of great importance is sort of like saying a kick to the balls can be something of great discomfort.  A new head coach, staff, and front office would be more than enough for any team to experience growing pains.  But there’s a lot more on the line. 

The late season collapse of the Broncos puts the Seahawks in the enviable but not-enviable position of a mid-draft first round pick.  Obviously higher picks are better than lower ones, but when you factor in our own draft spot there is suddenly a whole lot riding on a new front office not fucking up right off the bat.  What do I mean?

Last year’s #14 pick signed a five-year, $19 million dollar deal with $11 million guaranteed.  Last year’s #6 pick was the infamous Andre Smith holdout, which resulted in a four-year deal with $21 million guaranteed.  Just by those numbers alone, the Seahawks will likely be looking at sinking close to $35 million in guaranteed money.  No pressure for the new staff or anything.  That #6 pick, by all accounts, seems quite likely to be one of the top Offensive Lineman to begin the process of replacing Walter Jones’ corpse.  As for the #14, that’s anyone’s guess. 

It seemed like an immediate steal when we made the swap with Denver last year.  Now we’ve got a very risky pick that will have us investing a ton of money into rookies.  The 14 spot isn’t exactly littered with busts, but it’s seen more than it’s fair share of overpaid league average (or below) players.  Yes there was Darrelle Revis there, but there have been a lot of Brodrick Bunkleys.  Fortunately, we have the uncapped year going for us, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the team trading down at the #14 unless they feel like there’s a home run there.  Sure, it’s laying up, but with this much at stake it’s probably the right move to do.

Elston The Beaver Turner

Adjust your commentary accordingly.

REMINDER: Last day for Death Pool submissions! DEATH POOL!

I follow my favorite soccer team like a civilized sports fan. I check the score of Everton’s game after it happens. If they win? I read it. If they lose close? I read it to see how they blew it. Mild pleasure or mild displeasure – the process takes two minutes either way. Then I’m on to the rest of my day.

With the Huskies, I sit there and watch agonizing possession after agonizing possession. I know they’re not going to get their act together, and that the tone of the game is not going to miraculously change three quarters of the way through. I feel awful while it is happening. Then I feel awful afterward. A lot of the good feeling I get when they win is relief. This is a long-winded way of saying that I am resolved to stop watching blowouts earlier.

Knuckle up, buckleheads. If I like the games they’re in bold.

01.14.10

Arizona State @ Oregon

Oregon thought they were the cat’s pajamas after sweeping the Washington schools on the road. Then they tanked to the Beavs in the last Civil War at Mac Court. In what will reveal it self to be a running theme, I have no idea what is going on in this conference.

I think the phrase “cat’s pajamas” implies getting a cat to accept wearing pajamas. In most cases this would not be cool. You would have made clothes for your cat – not cool. Then the cat would scratch you when you tried to put the pajamas on, and run around until they fell off – not cool. But if the cat somehow accepted the pajamas and then hung out with a bubble pipe? Weird, and probably cool. Far-fetched though.

Arizona @ Oregon State

Is Craig Robinson going to make chicken salad of that Seattle U loss? Was it a crazy ploy to lull Oregon into a false sense of security before the rivalry game? Was it worth it? (No.) The wig-less first lady perplexes.

Cal @ Washington State

Just when everything played out for Cal to get decidedly in the driver’s seat, they dropped an OT game at home to UCLA. The same UCLA that lost to Cal-State Fullerton and Long Beach State. Indefensible. I thought everyone agreed that UCLA would only win 4 games in conference this year. C’mon team! Kick them when they’re down!

Stanford @ Washington

I am totally irrational when it comes to the Huskies. I actually think that the problem with this team is their haircuts. “When we didn’t have mohawks we were good! Now everyone has a mohawk and we suck! It’s the mohawks!” This ignores the fact that Elston Turner has the most absurd hair on the team, and appears to be our least intimidated player.

01.16.10

Cal @ Washington

A preseason conference title game. Now Washington is struggling to reassert itself in the middle of the Pac. It was beyond disappointing to watch Washington wilt in the face of palpable animosity from the Arizona State fans. I would have thought Venoy Overton and Isaiah Thomas would have relished being hated. Instead of “THEY HATE US!!” we got “Wait, they hate us?” Our players have feelings. This troubles me.

Arizona @ Oregon

I feel confident that whatever team finds itself in position to really capitalize on this game will blow it. Everyone in the conference is going to finish 8-10 somehow. Then Seattle U will win the conference tournament despite the notable handicap of not being eligible to play in it. No bids I say! How about that Momo Jones for Arizona, though? Nice player. Born Lamont, he hails from Harlem. This means he can answer both the practical and aesthetic elements of the query, “Where Harlem at?”

Stanford @ Washington State

These teams are just going to do the little things at one another until one of them folds – like a hall monitor dance off.

Robin Thicke Game of the Week

Arizona State @ Oregon State

Mmmm bap. Mmmm bap. Gotcha off guard in a half court trap. Gotcha ya girlfriend ‘fore she caught the clap. Mmmm bap. Mmmm bap. Who ordered these boneless wings? Would a side of bleu cheese put the stank on these things? Mmmm bap. Mmmm bap.

I like basketball because it involves a bunch of fellas trying to put it in the hole. While that happens, I fuck everything. You amateurs, there is no time for athletic representations of sex! Only sex!

USC @ UCLA

Shades of that football game a couple years ago where both USC and UCLA wore their home uniforms. USC was charged a timeout for the infraction, so UCLA called a meaningless timeout right away so nobody would have any excuses. USC self-imposed sanctions in light of the OJ Mayo scandal. In the interest of fair play, UCLA decided to be bad.

I love this Lane Kiffin hire.  It’s absolutely perfect in the high stakes, emotion filled world of college football.  Add to that the fact that it will play itself out in LA and you have the perfect storm of hype, drama, and real life all blending together.  It’s a storyline straight out of HBO’s Entourage, complete with protagonists, antagonists (but who plays what role is not clear), millions of dollars, power brokers, and very pretty girls.  The USC football drama is the best thing on Television right now and the conclusion to this season’s series is as up in the air as is possible.

I can envision a best case and worst case scenario for this situation that are as contrasted as Knoxville and Hollywood, but I have no idea which is more likely to play out.

Best Case

Lane Kiffin shows up at USC with a NFL caliber coaching staff and immediately restores USC to perennial National Championship contender.  With Monte Kiffen at defensive coordinator and Norm Chow guiding the offense, blue chip recruits flock to the Trojans as they did under Pete Carroll.  With legitimate coordinator superstars calling the plays, the Trojans dominate the Pac 10 and string together multiple 10 win seasons with Rose Bowls and National Championships to boot.

This is not that far fetched.  With Monte Kiffin running the defense – and the cupboard stocked full of first round NFL talent – it is not difficult to imagine a Trojan defense that ranks amongst the best in the country.  Further, with Norm Chow returning to the place of his greatest achievements, to take control of a Trojan offense that has a talented young QB, a solid offensive line, and an embarrassment of  incoming blue-chip talent, it is not hard to fathom the Trojan Juggernaut returning to the days of Leinart, Bush, and White.

To all that you add Lane Kiffin, the once recruiting coordinator turned head coach who knows Southern California like the back of his hand.  Along with recruiting dynamo Ed Orgeron, Kiffin can embark on a mission to reap #1 recruiting classes every single year – selling his dad’s defense, Norm Chow’s offense, and the promise of a first round draft pick.

USC’s best cast scenario is in fact a dream.  It couldn’t be better.  As the aging Carroll moves on to bigger and better things (in his mind at least), the young protege returns to take his place.  Kiffin is younger, his wife is hotter, and his star has the potential to be brighter.  The staff he brings with him makes him nothing less than college football’s Vincent Chase – arriving in LA with an Entourage sure to be the envy of the rest of the country.

Worst Case

Lane Kiffin shows up at USC already the subject of an independent NCCA rules investigation for his one year at Tennessee.  Kiffin, as you may remember, also committed numerous secondary violations while coaching the Volunteers which means in 14 short months he managed to go completely sideways on the NCAA rulebook and piss someone at the NCAA off enough to launch an investigation.

When he arrives at USC, he walks onto the campus of an institution that is neck-deep in NCAA investigations itself.  Both the Trojans football and basketball programs are under scrutiny for a variety of alleged misdeeds.  The football program in particular is mired in an investigation into activity that occurred during Pete Carroll’s tenure.  But here’s the best part – Kiffin himself was on USC’s staff as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator during the time period in which USC is alleged to have broken the rules.

So you have Kiffin who is under investigation for his actions while coach at Tennessee,  you have USC under investigation for alleged rule violations within its football program as it relates to such superstars as Reggie Bush, and you have the fact that Kiffin himself was employed at USC during a majority of the timeframe that they are being investigated for.

Add to all of that the reports that are coming out of Knoxville that Ed Orgeron, a fellow Volunteer defector who is following Kiffin to USC, was busy last night trying to convince Tennessee recruits (and early enrollees) to spurn the Vols and come to USC.  It’s a surreal set of circumstances.

Thus – the NCAA – tired of Kiffin’s act and really tired of the hubris and disregard for its authority that USC and its athletic director Mike Garrett have displayed, decide enough is enough.  Killing two birds with one stone the NCAA slams the USC football program, levying devastating sanctions on the Trojans.

For the misdeeds during Carroll’s era, in many of which Kiffin played a role, USC is at fault.  For Kiffin’s violations as Tennessee’s head coach, Kiffin is at fault (and USC, hiring him with knowledge of the investigation, assumed the risk that Kiffin would be sanctioned).  For the manner in which Kiffin, Orgeron, and company exited Tennessee after only one season – burning every bridge and pillaging every village – the NCAA finds more violations occurred (for which USC, the institution on whose behalf Kiffin and Orgeron were working, is at fault).  And finally, for USC’s athletic director Mike Garrett,  who presided over two programs at USC that have been out of control for years.  Who allowed Rodney Guillory and OJ Mayo onto USC’s campus.  Who failed to monitor the lifestyle’s of USC’s football superstars.  Who had the chutzpa to go hire Lane Kiffin from Tennessee despite knowledge of all of the above.  For Mr. Garrett, the NCAA has a special finding.  That he and his athletic department lack institutional control.  That his actions as USC athletic director display a level of ego and arrogance that is unrivaled in major college sports.  That it appears that he forgot that he is subject to the rules like everybody else.

What I’m saying is, I can conceive a situation where Lane Kiffin never coaches a down for USC.  Where the NCAA finally gets fed up with USC and brings a gun to the parties’ scheduled knife fight (or sanctions hearing)  next month.   Hammering the program with sanctions and suspending Kiffin from coaching (ie Kelvin Sampson).  When you look at all the circumstances surrounding USC right now, they are blatantly challenging the NCAA’s authority and banking on the fact that the NCAA won’t call them on it.

All in all, as a sports fan with an affiliation to the Pac 10, I can’t wait to see how this plays out.  Will Lane “Vince Chase” Kiffin play the role of Aquaman and bring USC’s football program from the depths (hey- it’s all relative, with USC 9-4 and the Emerald Bowl is the depths), or will Kiffin’s Chase character be that of Pablo Escobar in  Medellin, in which Chase’s career is almost destroyed as the movie is an utter flop.  Only time will tell.

SeattlePI.com

Seattle’s 3-1 record have the Mist tied for first with the Dallas Desire, the team Seattle beat handily on New Year’s Day. The semifinals take place two days before the Lingerie Bowl, which is held during halftime of the Super Bowl.

It took a lot of hard work, but we did it.  Congratulations everyone.  In twelve short months we struck back from the loss of the Sonics by successfully accomplishing our goal of toppling an unrelated sports franchise.  Lets raise our glass and take a look back at how we did it (with pictures!).

Phase 1:  You can be my wingman anytime.

University of Washington hires USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkesian as next head football coach of the Huskies.  Sarkesian brings Defensive Coordinator Nick Holt and others with him to Montlake. The Trojans vow to continue on despite the losses to its coaching staff.  Jeremy Bates is hired to replace Sarkesian and. the. beat. goes. on. (conquest playing)…….

Phase 2: Do or do not, there is no try

September 19, 2009 – unsuspecting Trojans, coming off a road win at eventual Rose Bowl champion Ohio State, suffer  16-13 defeat at Husky Stadium.  Aaron Corp, USC’s Quarterback in the game, is effectively ruined as a football player and Joe McKnight, the Trojan’s celebrated runningback offers up that ‘effort’ beats ‘talent’ every time.  Never Forget.

Phase 3:  Sweep the Leg

Incredibly, the Seattle Seahawks agree to forfeit success for up to 5 seasons and sign Pete Carroll to a 5 year, 35 million dollar contract.  Carroll, bringing offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates with him, completes the Seattle trifecta.  The Carroll signing, despite his lifetime record of about .500 in the NFL, leaves the Trojan dynasty in ruins.

When  reached for comment, this shark had this to say about the Carroll signing:

All in all, it was a job well done.  8 coaches, 1 upset, and 40 million dollars later- the city of Seattle has extracted its pound of flesh.

For much of the non-conference schedule, Washington basketball coach Lorenzo Romar seemed content to live with the gameplan, ‘victory through superior firepower.’  The Huskies, tabbed by most analysts as the first or second best team in the Pac 10 conference, overwhelmed inferior opponents with their athleticism and won games by creating extra possessions through offensive rebounds, and forcing turnovers on the perimeter on defense.

Throughout it all, however, the Huskies never got comfortable running a true offense, and Romar never committed to a core group of players, instead choosing to consistently rotate as many as 11 players in and out of every game.  Aside from Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas, Romar made little effort to make sure other players were regularly contributing on a night to night basis.  Occasionally, a player such as Elston Turner, Scott Suggs, or Venoy Overton would break out for a game or two, but never was there a sustained period of time when any member of the Washington team appeared to have been installed as a legitimate option in the offense.

Apparently the other coaches in the Pac 10 noticed this.

Now, as the Huskies sit at 1-3 in conference play, Lorenzo Romar needs to be held accountable for his coaching style so far this season.  Romar needs to sit in front of a microphone and explain how the Huskies made it all the way through a relatively soft non-conference slate without ever installing a recognizable offense.  How Romar’s quick substitution patterns throughout the season appear to have mentally damaged his team – resulting in players being afraid to take a shot, for fear of missing and being yanked.  How Ernie Kent, Herb Sendek, and Sean Miller were able to completely dominate Romar’s team, despite each having younger teams who struggled with their non-conference opponents.  Each of those coaches completely shut down Washington offensively by doing nothing more than doubling Quincy Pondexter, and forcing Isaiah Thomas to take difficult shots.  In doing that, they shifted the burden back to Romar to find another way to manufacture points.  Despite having a roster loaded with experienced and athletic players, Romar had no answers.

For me, the biggest mistake that Romar has made this season lies with his failure to pare down the rotation.  Players such as Elston Turner, Tyrese Breshers, and Scott Suggs have separated themselves and shown the ability- at times- to contribute offensively.  Yet Romar has not shown confidence in them.  Has not let them learn to play together.  Has not allowed them to make mistakes.  Instead, he has yanked them from the game everytime one of these players has drawn his ire.  A missed shot, blown defensive assignment, or turnover has resulted in substitutions en masse.  The Huskies rotation has featured no less than 11 players.  Justin Holliday, Clarence Trent, Breshers, Turner, Overton, and Suggs have all come off the bench with regularity.  Thus, aside from the afore mentioned Pondexter and Thomas, nobody on the team has any confidence in themselves at this stage.  Beyond that, the Huskies do not have a lineup to turn to at critical stages in a game.  There are not 5 guys who have played together enough to deal with adversity when opponents make a run.

This past weekend in Arizona, as UW was swept away with alarming ease, the Huskies looked inept, frustrated, and rudderless.  Thomas struggled to find any open space with which to operate, Pondexter floated around the court without purpose, and the bigs were totally overwhelmed (frankly the level of play from Amaning, Breshers, and Gant was pathetic – absolutely pathetic).   And Romar showed no sign of being able to do anything about it.  Where were the offensive sets for Elston Turner?  Where were the high screens to free Thomas from the tight man defense that teams have started to employ on him?  Most importantly – where were the set plays designed to get UW’s best players open looks?  I’ll tell you what – I openly admit that I am not a basketball expert- but it appeared to my untrained eye that UW wasn’t calling any plays.  Didn’t have any strategy.  Showed up without a “plan b.”  Either that, or the Huskies were trying these things – and were just completely unable to execute.  Neither of these scenarios is acceptable and in my opinion both were preventable.

Lorenzo Romar had a very soft non-conference schedule to prepare his team to respond to adversity.  To learn how to play together and how to win on a night when the opponent takes away the Huskies’ talented duo of Pondexter and Thomas.  He didn’t get it done.  He was content to let Pondexter and Thomas win games and take whatever offense he got from the supporting cast.  Now, 4 games into conference play, that failing may doom a season that started with much promise.

Romar needs to win now and no longer has the luxury of time to prepare for contingencies.   For UW’s sake, lets hope he has some ideas.

1.  ”Wait there’s a salary cap?  And it’s only $112 million?  Oh this is way worse than when I was at USC.”

2.  ”So ummm…. how do we get the ball to the Wide Receivers when there isn’t 7 yards of separation?”

3.  ”I noticed that the other teams in the league have a talent level that is equivalent, or superior to ours.  Is that legal?  How are we supposed to compete with that?”

4.  ”Why is Sark’s stadium bigger than mine?”

5.  ”Our secondary is smaller than every secondary in the Pac 10.  How is that possible?”

Does Carroll deserve another shot at the NFL? He wasn’t a terrible coach in New England, if you look at his career record of 33-31. The energetic 58-year old was profiled by L.A. magazine in a piece that will absorb the next hour of your life. He also has a history in Seattle — Carroll was the cornerbacks coach with the Hawks before taking the SC job in 2001.

What do you think? Would Pete Carroll be a good coach for the Seahawks?

<thanks to hot tipper skdub>

Can you identify all the coaches? Leave your comments below.

I say – bullsh*t.  These penalties are a joke.  Have you read what this University did?  Are you aware of the facts and circumstances surrounding Mayo’s recruitment to USC, all of which were known by USC’s athletic department at the time Mayo signed and faxed in his LOI?  When you actually take a minute to look at what USC did here – it is blatantly obvious that the athletic program  accepted a player into its program that  it knew was likely ineligible- and it did so with minimal investigation or explanation, despite the fact that everyone knew it was “shady” before Mayo ever stepped foot onto campus at SC.   It appears that SC simply decided to take a gamble that Mayo’s eligibility would never be questioned, and determined to deal with the consequences at a later date if it was.  Win now – maybe answer questions later.

Take, for instance, this New York Times article from March of 2007.  This article was written months before Mayo ever enrolled at USC.  I mean, if you read this – it’s almost unbelievable that the NCAA, the Pac 10, and USC itself did not immediately launch an investigation.  Here are a few quotes:

A stranger walked into the University of Southern California basketball office one day last summer and asked to speak to the head coach. The stranger did not make an appointment. He did not call ahead. Tim Floyd, the U.S.C. head coach, cannot explain why he agreed to see him.

Ummm – right.  Floyd took the meeting because he knew who the stranger was – and why he was there.

The mysterious man got right to the point. “How would you like to have the best player in the country?” he asked.

Who?  Me?  Tim Floyd?  Oh – ok.  I’d like that I guess.   And I can just have him for free?  Even better.  As our football coach Pete Carroll would say, “awesome!”

“O. J. wanted me to come here today,” the man told Floyd. “He wanted me to figure out who you are.”

No shit?  O.J. wanted you to do that.  Boy it sure was nice of you to take time out of  your busy day.  I mean, I’m sure you have a job and whatnot that you have to attend to.  Damn nice of you to come down to my office today to do that for this amateur high school basketball player from the other side of the country who, to my knowledge, has no connection to LA and has never been here for any reason outside of maybe a basketball tournament.

he man explained that Mayo wanted to market himself before going to the N.B.A., and that Los Angeles would give him the best possible platform.

“Then why aren’t you at U.C.L.A.?” Floyd asked.

The man shook his head. U.C.L.A. had already won 11 national championships. It had already produced many N.B.A. stars. Mayo wanted to be a pioneer for a new era.

“Let me call him,” Floyd said.

The man shook his head again. “O. J. doesn’t give out his cell,” he said. “He’ll call you.”

Floyd remembers the meeting lasting 45 minutes. He learned that the man’s name was Ronald Guillory, and that he was an event promoter in Los Angeles who had befriended Mayo. Other than that, Floyd learned absolutely nothing.

Ok, no problem.  I can’t call him.  That’s no big deal.  Perfectly normal.  Also what’d you say that name was again? Guillory?  Ok.  Got it.   Interesting because a guy named Guillory got this EXACT SAME USC BASKETBALL PROGRAM in trouble a few years ago by acting as a runner for an agent.  That is totally illegal so I remember that name, Guillory.  You wouldn’t happen to be the same guy would you?

Then, the article drops this pearl on us:

College basketball recruiting, especially when it comes to the top players, is a famously shady business.

Ohhh – so it is the same Guillory.  I see.  Well, at least the article alluded to the fact that the whole thing was a sham.

Again –  I have to emphasize this – the article was written BEFORE Mayo even showed up at USC.  Before he ever got to campus the New York Times had already written a piece declaring basketball recruiting to be shady, and illuminating exactly how Mayo’s ‘recruitment’ was a joke.   And none of this seemed to matter to USC or Tim Floyd.

So over a year before the allegations against Mayo ever surfaced officially, the New York Times had already, by in large, done most of the legwork in terms of the investigation into the Mayo saga.  They had printed, for all the world to see, the fact that a known runner for agents, Guillory, had initiated communication with USC’s head coach and without so much as a recruiting trip handed USC the #1 basketball recruit in the country.  What has emerged since, information like, (i) what agent Guillory was working for; (ii) what improper benefits Mayo was receiving; and (iii) Floyd’s level of complicity with the whole thing – are just the connected dots and logical extensions to what the NY Times printed while Mayo was still in High School.  But nobody really seemed to care.

Of course, after the whole situation blew up, the media were quick to pounce.  In May 2008 Luke Winn chimed in with his take and there were many more like it, but these after-the-fact burials of USC are hollow to me.  It’s easy to slam a program after its been caught.   Where were these journalists after they had read the NY Times piece?  What did they do to find out the details surrounding Mayo and his entourage?  Nothing.  It wasn’t until a whistle blower stepped and hand delivered a bundle of allegations (with some evidence) that the national media moved.

So now here we are.  USC has sanctioned itself and is hoping everyone goes away and stops talking about this.  The vast majority of the media have described the sanctions as “major” and then discussed their opinion as to what USC’s reasoning behind such tough penalties were.  In my opinion – the media has taken the bait that USC has offered, ignoring the larger story behind the sanctions.

USC’s sanctions are appropriate for a program who found out, after the fact, that they had played an entire season with an ineligible player.  Erase that season from the record book, sit out post season play for a year, and take away a scholarship for a year or two (with a few minor recruiting restrictions for good measure).  To me, that is perfectly acceptable.   For a program that non-wittingly used a player who was receiving improper benefits, those are harsh penalties.  While the University may be a victim to some extent, the penalties are still warranted to teach the University to be more vigilant about its student athletes and closely monitor whether  they are suddenly displaying signs of wealth in excess of their means.

Of course, that is not the case here.  In this instance we have a University who accepted a recruit who came to them from a man who had already run afoul of the NCAA,  under circumstances that were described in a NY Times article as shady, all while that recruit was still getting ready for his high school prom.  Neither the athletic director nor the coach did a thing about it.  Nor did the administration of the University take any action to ensure that Mayo’s recruitment and eligibility was legitimate.  How can they claim ignorance when the Times delivered the information to their front door?  They can’t play dumb with this one, because they weren’t unaware of what was going on.  Instead – the entire University chose to forge ahead with Mayo, because he was likely to win them some basketball games.  And that he did.

For the transgressions of USC’s athletic department in the OJ Mayo story, the University should face penalties far in excess of what they have levied upon themselves.  Right now they are hiding behind those players and coaches who had nothing to do with Mayo as an excuse for their light sanctions.  While it may be true that the current regime had nothing to do with the past – it is not an excuse.  USC should be cited for lack of institutional control and face the NCAA for what should be a multi-year ban on postseason play, numerous lost scholarships, and of course – restricted recruiting to on campus only (but hey – they got Mayo without leaving campus – so it’s doable).

If that happens, then other programs may be persuaded not to engage in the business of of shady recruiting (or at least limit their participation in it).  If not – then what’s to worry about?  Why play by the rules?