Evaluation

“May, 2009: McAdoo is a hybrid of an old school fundamental basketball player and the high level athlete of today’s game. He is one of my favorite players to watch; he is intelligent, plays with passion, rarely loses his composure, and is willing to do the dirty work it takes to win games. Because of his length, bounce, and timing he plays much bigger than his 6-8 height. He has the ability to affect a game in so many areas that he can have an off night in one area and still be a dominant player on the floor by excelling at another phase. He gets to rebounds outside of his area and is a relentless offensive rebounder. He runs the floor like a deer and is always a threat to score an easy transition basket if his defender takes a break. He can play facing the basket, but unlike many of his contemporaries he does not shy away from going to work in the post and asserting an inside threat for his team. His timing at blocking shots is uncanny; he has a knack for blocking a shot and keeping it in play for his team to gain possession (a la Bill Russell). It will be fun to watch his continued development to see how far he can take his game.”

Sounds like you grew up in the same atmosphere (college basketball-wise) that I did. My dad and I would travel the state of Indiana to watch high school hoops. Whenever UNC were in the region, we would travel to see them…to watch the “Great Dean Smith”, a man who my dad thought was brilliant yet “should win the title every year.” My dad would point out how brilliantly Dean rotated his players…that will never leave me.
We watched a lot of Indiana basketball back in the day. My sister is an IU grad. I can safely say that UNC is the one big-time program that IU fans truly respect. Of course, they kinda had our number back in the day, with the ’81 title defeat and the ’84 Sweet 16 loss.
Anyways, what part of the state are you from (north, south, Indy-ish, Fort Wayne, “Chicago South”, Inditucky? We’ve got names for all the regions.

This is a big time in the rivalry, as UNC has the chance to continue to load up and be competitive for championships and if we hit a few big classes and Duke misses, before we know it 5 to 7 years of UNC dominance will go by and Coach K will be like 90 and unable to EVER rebuild. Then Collins or Wojo will take over and in twenty years it will be a memory of the past, because not only is UNC recruiting and grooming better players, but we also groom and build and nurture our family, which will lead to top talent from players to head coaches to staff. with no end in sight.

“Does anyone else’s back hurt?”

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Awesome!

dook is back has been the media’s mantra forever and with dook as contenders for both Irving and Barnes it will never stop. The point is dook hasn’t gotten anyone yet, and there is a good chance that they won’t get anyone at all. Barnes, I think, will go eight miles down the road and Irving somewhere else. dook is on a decline and it will not cease.

“It’s a direct result, I think, of putting too much emphasis on character and intangibles — i.e., so-called “good and smart kids” — in recruiting and not enough emphasis on just getting badass ballers who can run and jump at an elite level.”

Yeah, good kids with good character who fracture noses, flop and throw elbows at every opportunity.

Bottom line: UNC recruits good kids and good athletes and dook can’t compete.

That link made me laugh harder than I have for quite some time.

Here’s the bottom line:

Even if Dook land both Irving and Barnes, I won’t lose any sleep over it. UK are gonna make a push for Irving and Barnes WAS a Dook-lean, but that time is over. Nonetheless, I’m more confident in Roy’s ability to develop his players to match his expectations than Mike Krzyzewski’s. The proof is in the pudding. Barnes might very well enjoy Dook, and Irving might like playing there for a year…but I would be shocked to see their stock climb pre-combine as opposed to post-combine (Gerald Henderson, anyone?). Essentially, these guys are great players who will be great wherever they go, but the Dook program will not prepare them for the next level any more than what they have experienced on the AAU circuit…oh wait, I forgot. Dook always play the toughest non-conference schedule, which explains why their RPI is always so high (never mind the fact that Krzyzewski always schedules the previous year’s top teams on his current year schedule). Silly me.