Hoops links for Tuesday:
- Andrea Cohen of the Daily Oklahoman reports that OU’s Blake Griffin outrebounded Oklahoma State by himself last night. Cohen: “But Griffin’s dominance on the boards and OU outrebounding OSU by 20 was a factor the Cowboys couldn’t overcome, despite strong guard play and a run that brought the Cowboys within one with about seven minutes left.”
- Los Angeles Times columnist T.J. Simers thinks that soon UCLA’s Ben Howland could have us all Buffaloed. Simers: “He has friends who address him as “Marv Levy,” and Ben Howland should be as good as the former Bills coach, which would mean taking UCLA to the Final Four for the fourth consecutive time this year. And then lose again. The Bruins have been working hard recently to get that losing part down pat, dropping two of their last three and tumbling to No. 17 in the polls — as low as they have fallen since about this same time three years ago.”
- Rush the Court thinks the SEC is wising up on its coaches. Rush: “Today in the era of million-dollar salaries and what-have-you-done-for-me-lately performance evaluations, even in the football-centric SEC (minus Vandy, Kentucky and Arkansas), “good enough” is no longer good enough. Just last year, LSU canned John Brady, an Xs & Os charlatan who two years prior had parlayed a couple of great recruits into a very unlikely Final Four run. They replaced him with a well-respected rising star in coaching, Trent Johnson (at $1.2M per, reportedly, of course). At South Carolina, Dave Odom was invited to retire after he had taken the Gamecocks to two NIT titles and an NCAA Tournament in the last five years. Darrin Horn already has matched the win total (14) of Odom’s last season with virtually the same roster. Over in Athens at Georgia, Dennis Felton is currently walking the Bataan death march with his 310th most efficient offense and is expected to be replaced at the end of this season even after his unprecedented run in the SEC Tournament last year.”
- Today’s ACC Headlines looks at Tyler Hansbrough and the non-foul issue. Today’s: “Tyler Hansbrough’s habit of getting the ball in the paint and then putting himself clearly in the path of flailing arms and grabbing hands of opposing players in a manner (according to some fans) that causes referees to actually call fouls when those arms and hands make contact with various parts of his body as opposed to the ball has landed the former Player of the Year in the dentist’s chair.”
Continue reading ‘HL: Griffin’s glass work, Ben Howland and a wiser SEC’
