Favorite Non-Duke Player This Season

[TexHawk]

Thank you! He is so ridiculous, I hope he drops to late first round and my Bulls pick him up I didn't realize until recently he was in the 2011 class. Was he just redshirted?

Ben McLemore was deemed a partial qualifier by the NCAA before the '11-12 season began. (Same thing happened to Jamari Traylor, Jeff Withey's backup this year.) Bill Self was famously quoted saying that he'd be happy with just making the tournament after he heard that news. Both McLemore and Traylor redshirted but were able to practice with the team after 1st semester. If you recall, that KU team lost to Davidson in Kansas City just before Christmas, and a few players gave credit to those two for pushing them in practice on their way to the title game. KU has a very good S&C program, so you have to think that that semester of practice + conditioning really helped him be ready to contribute right away this fall. (For those interested, McLemore also used the time off to commit to school and posted a 3.2ish GPA his first year.)

McLemore famously played on the same AAU team with Brad Beal, and KU was in heavy on both of them very early in high school. Bill Self wanted Beal badly, as he was more polished and ready to contribute right away. McLemore was just thought of as an athlete with a streaky jumpshot. He left St. Louis his senior year and bounced around to a few schools, which ultimately made the NCAA uncomfortable with his transcripts.

The realist in me knows that the you can't guarantee that the season would play out in the same way (or better) with McLemore and Traylor in the lineup, but man... I can't help thinking what that game against Kentucky would have looked like with those guys available. That team basically played 5 guys, and had a walk-on (Connor Teahan) guarding the #2 pick in the draft in crunch time. Ugh... best to not think about it.

[Bob Green]

Here is a nice article on State's Richard Howell:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/pa...06/pick-n-roll

"Just about every area he's gotten better,'' coach Mark Gottfried said last week. "Daily work habits, concentration level, obviously he's rebounding well. He's scoring a little bit more, he's providing a little more leadership for our team. He's just doing a lot more things."

Ryan Kelly receives some nice ink at the bottom of the article.

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

I am suprised no one has given a vote for Joe Harris from UVA. So he has my vote given his performance vs UNC.

[chalz]

I am suprised no one has given a vote for Joe Harris from UVA. So he has my vote given his performance vs UNC.

Every time I see him play, it strikes me that Joe Harris would have made a fine Blue Devil. Good athlete, strong fundamentals and superior toughness.

[noladevil]

Awesome defender, tough, scrappy, smart. That's my nominee for the 2013 Greivis Vasquez Award.

[Billy Dat]

I don't even know this kid Jamaal Franklin of San Diego State but he may be my favorite player for simply trying, let alone completing, the following flush.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e...lin%2Bdunk.gif

[David]

I have had the opportunity to see Ryan Anderson (BC) play in person several times this year. I really like his game. He is putting up impressive numbers (17.1 ppg; 9.7 rbg). He has a nice shooting touch from 10-15 feet out and he is very quick around the rim. In trying to think about a comparable former Duke player, maybe the closest is Roshown McLeod (although Anderson has a better post game). My only quibble is that Anderson needs to take the ball up stronger sometimes when he has a man on him. However, he is only a sophmore and he is bound to get stronger. Given that he is easily BC's best player, he will not lack for touches. It will be interesting to see him match-up against Duke this year.

[newclasspack]

Jamaal Franklin from SDSU.. How many players in college basketball are averaging a Double double in points (18) and Boards (10) from the 2/3 spot? PLus there was also this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-stx17fY-I

[-bdbd]

Good CNNSI article on the NPOY race, featuring Zeller, but calling MP2 "the favorite." They highlight five top candidates:


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/col...2_a9&eref=sihp

[Billy Dat]

This is the most relevant thread I could think of for the following.

Ole Miss' Marshall Henderson can't technically be considered a favorite of mine because I only know him by his recent infamy, which centers around the growing consensus that he is the most over-the-top cocky and braggadocious (is that even word?) player in college ball.

His jersey snapping display in the face of the Auburn student section, and their hilarious, impassioned R-rated response, was an instant classic in the animated gif world
http://deadspin.com/5979569/who-is-t...taining-gunner

Regardless of how you feel about such preening, I think we can all get on the Henderson bandwagon tonight as Ole Miss, currently ranked, attempt to put another nail in Kentucky's NCAA coffin. Let's go Rebels!

[juise]

This is the most relevant thread I could think of for the following.

Ole Miss' Marshall Henderson can't technically be considered a favorite of mine because I only know him by his recent infamy, which centers around the growing consensus that he is the most over-the-top cocky and braggadocious (is that even word?) player in college ball.

His jersey snapping display in the face of the Auburn student section, and their hilarious, impassioned R-rated response, was an instant classic in the animated gif world
http://deadspin.com/5979569/who-is-t...taining-gunner

Regardless of how you feel about such preening, I think we can all get on the Henderson bandwagon tonight as Ole Miss, currently ranked, attempt to put another nail in Kentucky's NCAA coffin. Let's go Rebels!

This is interesting. His game in these clips reminds me a little of Adam Morrison. He's like A-Mo's evil doppelganger.

[jacone21]

This is the most relevant thread I could think of for the following.

Ole Miss' Marshall Henderson can't technically be considered a favorite of mine because I only know him by his recent infamy, which centers around the growing consensus that he is the most over-the-top cocky and braggadocious (is that even word?) player in college ball.

His jersey snapping display in the face of the Auburn student section, and their hilarious, impassioned R-rated response, was an instant classic in the animated gif world
http://deadspin.com/5979569/who-is-t...taining-gunner

Regardless of how you feel about such preening, I think we can all get on the Henderson bandwagon tonight as Ole Miss, currently ranked, attempt to put another nail in Kentucky's NCAA coffin. Let's go Rebels!

henderson.jpg

[Billy Dat]

The way Victor Oladipo explodes off of two feet reminds me of one of those cheap toy trinkets that combine a spring and a suction cup sheathed in some kind of kiddie character. You push the device onto a flat surface until the spring compresses and the suction cup sticks. When the suction lets loose, the device violently springs straight up in the air and usually surprises the watcher. That's Oladipo. His hops remind me of Gerald. His feel for making big plays in big moments reminds me of Shane. MAN - that dude is good.

[TruBlu]

The way Victor Oladipo explodes off of two feet reminds me of one of those cheap toy trinkets that combine a spring and a suction cup sheathed in some kind of kiddie character. You push the device onto a flat surface until the spring compresses and the suction cup sticks. When the suction lets loose, the device violently springs straight up in the air and usually surprises the watcher. That's Oladipo. His hops remind me of Gerald. His feel for making big plays in big moments reminds me of Shane. MAN - that dude is good.

So that's his name! In watching Indiana play the first few times, I was curious as to why the announcers were getting a plug in for "Home Depot" every time # 4 for Indiana did something good on the court.

I guess hearing is the third thing to go.

[scottdude8]

Trey Burke. If Michigan had a big with Mason Plumlee like athleticism it'd be lob city... they're already halfway there with GRIII. Plus his clutch fadeaway jumpers are incredible.

[throatybeard]

Alas, Steve Hale has run out of eligibility.

I loved Steve Hale.

(The Carolina SG, not the character on Full House)

My favorite non-Duke-player in college basketball this year is Sonya Curry. #Musberger

[noworries]

I am suprised no one has given a vote for Joe Harris from UVA. So he has my vote given his performance vs UNC.

Harris and Oladipo from IU are probably my faves...Oladipo is such an athlete, Harris kinda reminds me of Jimmy from Hoosiers

[newclasspack]

Marshell Henderson

Cocky white guys >>>>

Basketball needs more of those

[Mike Corey]

Some of you mentioned Aaron Craft as your favorite non-Duke player. ESPN has published an article on why so many people have the opposite feeling about the Buckeye PG, and it will sound familiar in many ways. The author's premise: fans don't like him 'cause he looks just like them. The author interviewed a M*chigan fan--Lipnik--to glean a little more of this perspective.

Lipnik, though, is more open about his predilections than most. "I'm thrilled you said that," Lipnik says when asked about the role Craft's skin color plays in his long-brewing animosity. "I didn't want to be the racist guy who calls out the white thing. But that's exactly one of the main reasons I hate him. He's that rural white guy who thinks he's hard-nosed, the my-dad-taught-me-how-to-play-defense, I-can't-score-the-basketball-if-you-paid-me guy. And everyone hates those guys. They're just ... just annoying."

By "those guys," Lipnik doesn't mean every white player. They are not white international guards like Steve Nash, or mean white big men like Christian Laettner, no matter how despised they might be for different reasons. They are not pure scorers like Jimmer Fredette or wings with a sweet stroke like J.J. Redick. He means strictly this guy: the short (by basketball standards), overachieving American white kid who doesn't pass the eye test, struggles to average double figures yet somehow thrives in the college game.

It's a club reserved for the likes of former Dukies such as Bobby Hurley (1989-1993), Steve Wojciechowski (1994-98) and Greg Paulus (2005-09), Purdue's Chris Kramer (2006-10) and Indiana's Dane Fife (1998-2002). Duke, with its rep as a bookish program with pesky tendencies, has more members in the club than anyone else. Craft's least favorite player growing up was none other than Paulus, now a friend and Ohio State video coordinator. "Slapping the floor and the way he carried himself, I didn't like Greg at all," Craft says. But being a Blue Devil is not vital. They just have to be, as Lipnik puts it so aptly, "that guy."

[luburch]

This may be a cop-out answer but I'm going with the entire Gonzaga team. I love Mark Few and their style of basketball, and I think it's great for their program to have the number one ranking.