Mudge
01-20-2008, 06:49 PM
I watched USC beat #4 UCLA (part of it anyway-- when did UCLA start wearing jerseys where the "C" was a different color than the other letters in "UCLA"), Kansas State beat #9 Texas A&M, Maryland beat #1 UCLA, and Duke beat #23 Clempson.
I was struck by the fact that I saw OJ Mayo (starred in USC's win yesterday), Michael Beasley, Bill Walker (starred in KSU's win yesterday), Tywon Lawson (sort of featured in UNC's loss yesterday), and Nolan Smith (starred in Duke's win yesterday) all playing in the same game 2 years ago, when Oak Hill played North College Hill, in front of 17,000 people in Cincinnati.
Interestingly, in that game, Mayo was the overall leading scorer (for NCH), Smith was the winning team's leading scorer (for OH), but Walker was the most ferocious and accomplished player, with the biggest motor and the most eye-popping athleticism (he had a much more complete game than Mayo, playing defense against bigger players, shotblocking, rebounding, and scoring), and Beasley (to me, at least) was clearly the one with the most talent and potential, but he only turned it on in spurts. Lawson was not particularly impressive; he was sometimes anonymous among the bigger, more athletic players surrounding him. Smith was the most anonymous of all-- he had the quietest 20 points you ever saw, getting all of them within the framework of the offense, and not making any spectacular plays.
Looking back, it seems to me that Kansas State (thanks to Bob Huggins) has ended up with the two most gifted players on the floor that night-- but, of course, neither is likely to still be there this time next year. Even so, Kansas better watch out for KSU this year-- I also watched some of Kansas vs. the dregs of Quin Snyder's once-talented Missouri team yesterday, and I saw nothing to make me think Kansas should be considered the #1 team in the country; Kansas struggled to beat a very bad Missou team, and I think they will perform the usual Bill Self/Kansas choke in the NCAA tourney.
I was struck by the fact that I saw OJ Mayo (starred in USC's win yesterday), Michael Beasley, Bill Walker (starred in KSU's win yesterday), Tywon Lawson (sort of featured in UNC's loss yesterday), and Nolan Smith (starred in Duke's win yesterday) all playing in the same game 2 years ago, when Oak Hill played North College Hill, in front of 17,000 people in Cincinnati.
Interestingly, in that game, Mayo was the overall leading scorer (for NCH), Smith was the winning team's leading scorer (for OH), but Walker was the most ferocious and accomplished player, with the biggest motor and the most eye-popping athleticism (he had a much more complete game than Mayo, playing defense against bigger players, shotblocking, rebounding, and scoring), and Beasley (to me, at least) was clearly the one with the most talent and potential, but he only turned it on in spurts. Lawson was not particularly impressive; he was sometimes anonymous among the bigger, more athletic players surrounding him. Smith was the most anonymous of all-- he had the quietest 20 points you ever saw, getting all of them within the framework of the offense, and not making any spectacular plays.
Looking back, it seems to me that Kansas State (thanks to Bob Huggins) has ended up with the two most gifted players on the floor that night-- but, of course, neither is likely to still be there this time next year. Even so, Kansas better watch out for KSU this year-- I also watched some of Kansas vs. the dregs of Quin Snyder's once-talented Missouri team yesterday, and I saw nothing to make me think Kansas should be considered the #1 team in the country; Kansas struggled to beat a very bad Missou team, and I think they will perform the usual Bill Self/Kansas choke in the NCAA tourney.