tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69511476852037334182009-12-05T17:05:59.304-06:00Basketball blog on recruiting, NCAA basketball, March Madness and the NBA Draft.WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-711005174828484432009-12-04T09:31:00.004-06:002009-12-04T10:06:08.372-06:00

This week I have seen a number of posts in forums and blog comments asking "why the B10/ACC Challenge matters". Most of them come from fans of other conferences and I can understand that it matters less to those people. However, irrespective of which conference you grew up with, the B10/ACC Challenge does matter for college hoops --- and here is why.1. Most Final Fours - Whether you look at

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-61513044331150044782009-11-23T21:38:00.002-06:002009-11-23T21:52:59.076-06:00

The Purdue Tennessee game tonight was a real slugfest of two very good teams. It felt more like March than November. Both teams played great defense but each were still able to display their outstanding offensive abilities -- Purdue with great ball movement and deadeye shooting and Tennessee with great athleticism and drives to the basket.The game came right down to the wire and in the end

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-7394765815401757102009-11-21T13:24:00.004-06:002009-11-21T13:30:56.203-06:00

I have talked about these guys in the past, in their own songs they combine reggae, rap and hip hop to provide a great sound. Here they have reggae'd up Viva La Vida, and frankly I like this version than the original. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-49058306984709549602009-11-18T11:23:00.005-06:002009-11-18T11:33:42.890-06:00

Kentucky's freshman backcourt get a lot of play, but for my money I like the Illini's dynamic freshman duo of Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson. In the first two games of the season, Paul has poured in 22 and 20 points respectively. He is shooting .571 from 3 point land and making very smart decisions on offense. He has great athletic ability, can and does drive the lane and has added 3.5

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-62535101731368403762009-10-06T22:05:00.019-05:002009-10-16T23:18:11.163-05:00

Midnight Madness is just around the corner, October 16th, and we are starting to hear about some of the top recruits planned visits. For the 3rd year in a row, here is the official unofficial list of visits planned for Midnight Madness.We are getting started a little early this year because it seems players have been announcing their visits a bit earlier this year. Kentucky has already put

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-67064231309535311102009-08-01T22:37:00.001-05:002009-08-01T22:41:18.882-05:00

I particularly like the bonehead at the 1:40 minute mark trying to jump onto his roof on a motorcycle --- What was his plan to stop if he did make it onto the roof?

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-51134199621706449802009-05-27T22:35:00.006-05:002009-05-27T23:05:20.135-05:00

Is anyone surprised that Coach Cal runs out of town and an investigation is started into recruiting violations at Memphis. Remember, Coach Cal left UMass under an air of suspicion, he ends up at Memphis, a program with a proud basketball tradition but down and out at the time he joined. Bang -- Memphis has a few of their best recruiting classes in decades and they end up in the Final Four twice

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-60447625008917571032009-05-24T11:15:00.011-05:002009-05-24T22:20:22.117-05:00

So basketball season is over so I thought I would take a little time to write up a review on one of my favorite bands. They are not well known so hopefully, I will also be enlightening you on the Dirty Heads.The Dirty Heads are a Rap/Reggae/Hip Hop quartet from Huntington Beach, CA. The first popped up on the radar with Stand Tall, a hip reggae/ska tune on the Surf's Up soundtrack in 2007.

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-89356708950293458202009-04-25T12:18:00.008-05:002009-04-25T16:59:59.389-05:00

Its time to update the conference performance stats in the NCAA tournament. I last published this study a couple of years ago. I look at the Final Four appearances by conference for the past 10 and 30 years to provide some long-term trends in conference performance.While I understand that Final Four appearances alone are not the only guide to analyzing a conferences performance, I do believe it

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-85112148465617494272009-02-17T09:34:00.004-06:002009-02-17T09:45:09.461-06:00

Let's get into a March Madness mood with some big time play inside the paint from some of the likely Tourney teams:Blake Griffin, Oklahoma - One hand slam over ColoradoCarlon Brown, Utah - Slam while abusing the defenderCalvin Brock, Illinois - One hand slam putback against IndianaSam Young, Pitt - Windmill dunk on the breakaway

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-85635221634084610082009-02-15T21:20:00.001-06:002009-02-15T21:22:16.258-06:00

I will post the link for the combined blogpoll results tomorrow.RankTeamDelta 1 Connecticut 2 Oklahoma 3 North Carolina 4 Pittsburgh 5 Michigan St. 2 6 Memphis 5 7 Duke 2 8 Wake Forest 2 9 Clemson 1 10 Marquette 1 11 Louisiana St. 4 12 Missouri 4 13 Louisville 3 14 Villanova 1 15 Illinois 5

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-57550460156121889992009-02-13T16:53:00.002-06:002009-02-13T16:57:22.229-06:00

If you missed this Big Ten thriller, here is the last 6 minutes for your viewing pleasure. They comeback from 12 down with 5 minutes to go and 9 down with 2 minutes to go. Thrilling finish. They only led once during the entire game -- at the end!

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-83102807483608183772009-02-09T16:58:00.002-06:002009-02-09T17:10:37.161-06:00

Historically, one of the really difficult aspects of comparing teams across conferences has been that all of the non-conference match-ups were played in November and December. In the early part of the season, teams have not gelled into their final form. Often coaches have not settled on a starting line-up by December. While the players may be playing well, they may not yet play well together

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-88835855461958667542009-02-05T11:24:00.002-06:002009-02-05T11:34:29.605-06:00

EA Sports is running a nice little poll on the toughest venues in college basketball. Read their thoughts on some of the toughest and vote for your favorite here.

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-27996055398275181152009-02-02T11:06:00.003-06:002009-02-02T11:22:55.298-06:00

Does anybody else think that this 18 team Big East is a disaster for the teams involved? Yes they may still get 9 teams into the NCAA tourney, but their overall seeding is going to suck.By having 9 very good teams in a conference, they are beating each other into oblivion. Georgetown, Notre Dame and Syracuse are great examples. Going into conference play, they all looked like 3-5 seeds for the

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-87880128953897136632009-02-01T15:24:00.002-06:002009-02-01T15:28:53.503-06:00

I am a member of a new blogpoll that is forming for College Hoops bloggers. I am pleased to be a member of this community which includes some of the best hoops bloggers on the web. This should be a lot of fun. The blogpoll will eventually be posted here, but we are currently testing this system this week.However, I will be able to post my ballot each week, so here is the ballot I submitted for

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-60439936659206968842009-01-21T09:09:00.003-06:002009-01-21T09:14:05.696-06:00

Ummm...that's a DII school. Wow!!!!

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-83978893568507446792009-01-20T11:39:00.004-06:002009-01-20T12:49:53.126-06:00

Looks like the Illini are going to capture a little US spirit tonight as their game against Ohio State is broadcast on ESPN on the same day of the Presidential Inauguration.In case you live under a log, President Obama was a Senator from Illinois, so the U of I is capturing a bit of that US/Illinois spirit. They plan to blend their typical sea of Orange with mini US flags. Should make for a

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-31999048448160640832008-12-21T09:04:00.007-06:002008-12-21T10:56:51.754-06:00

I took in some great high school basketball last night at Loyola University. The Windy City Showdown was put together by NY2LAsports and they brought in some of the best teams from the Midwest to play some of the best Illinois teams.I watched 3 great games with a ton of high major college prospects. Overall it was a great event -- thanks NY2LA. Check out their site for a nice description of

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-17371234940035951102008-12-18T19:39:00.007-06:002008-12-19T17:00:44.394-06:00

After scoring Top 10 recruiting classes in 2009 and 2010 by keeping many of the best Illinois players in state, the Illini are on the board with one of the top recruits in the state for 2011. Tracy Abrams, a point guard at Mount Carmel, verbally committed to UofI today. Point guard was a high priority position for Bruce Weber's Illini in the 2011 class and Abrams is one of the best in the

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-80772297923458822752008-11-26T20:53:00.006-06:002008-11-29T23:10:00.784-06:00

-- Two players looked like the best pro prospects that I saw -- Blake Griffin and Greg Monroe. Both are big men with the ability to put the ball on the floor. Blake has not been a secret during the last year, but he is really looking like a top 3 pick right now. I was surprised with how tall Monroe is. I knew he was silky smooth but I did not realize he was 6'11. I think it is going to be

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-88446186977682795612008-11-17T12:42:00.002-06:002008-11-17T12:44:28.954-06:00

I first heard about Moola.com about a year ago, but at the time the games that they had seemed much more luck-oriented than skill-based. However, since that time they have added some skill games, Gold Rush and Sports Betting in particular, that provide good players the ability to win without needing luck.Moola.com bills itself as a Massively Multiplayer Rewards Game (MMRG) that is kind of like a

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-23205206005039248692008-10-31T09:53:00.001-05:002008-10-31T10:02:42.919-05:00

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-88755474152366117612008-10-07T22:08:00.026-05:002008-10-23T20:19:39.108-05:00

I am starting off the 2nd annual list of where the "live recruits" are going to visit for Midnight Madness this year. This is a funky year because the Madness events are spread across three weekends. Starting with the 10/10, Illinois, Kentucky and West Virginia are kicking off Midnight Madness by using a loophole that allows teams to practice two hours per week from the beginning of October.

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951147685203733418.post-67264526690346812222008-09-05T19:46:00.001-05:002008-09-05T19:47:41.190-05:00

I recently came across a very good new blog covering Big Ten Hoops which could become a must read for Hoops Geeks like me. The site is http://bigtengeeks.blogspot.com/ and like the name suggests these guys have a bit of "quant" in them. Statistically, they pull lots of detail from the Pomeroy Rankings produced by Ken Pomeroy but then the analysis is all theirs.Right now they are providing

WeirdRashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04354612284707099273noreply@blogger.com0