Bleacher Report - Articles by Kirby Morris

All-Freshman Team: NCAA's Year of the Young'n

Kirby Morris — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 06:48:15 -0500

Michael Beasley, forward, Kansas State

25.3 ppg, 12.4 rebounds

It has been obvious that he very well could be the Player of the Year with the numbers he is putting up and the success his team is having. I sure would not want to play against the Beasley-led Wildcats come March.

Patrick Patterson, forward, Kentucky

17.1 ppg, 8.1 rebounds

I think Patterson is the most important player on any team. If he was not with Kentucky they would not of had much success at all this year. He has had his ups and downs, but he is really coming on as of late. I chose him simply because how valuable he is to his team.

Derrick Rose, guard, Memphis

14.1 ppg, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists

He was the x-factor for Memphis this year and is the main reason they are ranked No. 1 and undefeated. As he goes they go, and if he continues to play the way he is Memphis will be the last team standing.

Eric Gordon, guard, Indiana

21.4 ppg, 3.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists

Indiana has been a force this year, at times they have been inconsistent, but a force none the less. He did play against a little weaker competition at the beginning of the year and is now finding it a little harder to score in conference. But he still has the ability to get to the rim when he wants. He can shoot the ball from all over.

O.J. Mayo, guard, USC

20.1 ppg, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists

At crucial times this season, Mayo has put USC on his back. He has a great freshman teammate in Davon Jefferson who deserves some of the credit for USC's success. Mayo is putting up big numbers in a tough conference. It makes you wonder what he would be like with a great supporting cast around him.

Reserves

Kevin Love, Forward/Center, UCLA

17.4 ppg, 11.2 rebounds

Love is the main reason UCLA had been as successful as they have been, especially at the beginning of the season when Collison was injured. He is relentless around the rim and extremely hard to stop with his size. The only reason I have him as a reserve because he is not as fast as the other big men I have.

Jerryd Bayless, guard, Arizona

19.3 ppg, 4.5 assists

Bayless is one of many great freshmen guards. Arizona has a team full of young stars and Bayless and Budinger lead the bunch.

Honorable Mention

Kyle Singler, Duke; James Harden, Arizona State; Andrew Ogilvy, Vanderbilt; DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh; Chris Warren, Ole Miss; Davon Jefferson, USC; Donte Greene, Syracuse

I know there are plenty of diaper dandies I could choose from, but I looked at overall performance and how much these players meant to there respective teams.

Does anyone think we have ever had a better class of freshmen?

Why the FCS Southern Conference is Better than the BCS Western Athletic Conference

Kirby Morris — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:10:55 -0500

Now I know many of you may think I am crazy, but I happen to know a little about football no matter what any of you think. I am going to give my argument as to why the FCS Southern Conference is better than the BCS Western Athletic Conference.

For starters, most of the players in the Southern Conference come from the southeast, which is also known as the biggest football hotbed in the nation. Many of the players first attended an SEC or ACC school before they transferred to the FCS school. Transfer rules going from a BCS school to an FCS school does not call for a player to sit out a year.

After watching all the bowl games unfold as they did this year, it made me wonder if my school, the Georgia Southern Eagles, were as good as some of the BCS schools. While my Georgia Southern Eagles did play and lose to a dismal Colorado State team who had only three wins all season, they also beat the eventual three time champion Appalachian State at their place to break something like a 30-game home winning streak. Colorado State probably could of beaten half, if not more, of the teams out of the WAC—however they play in the MWC, which is much more competitive than the WAC.

Let's take a look at the records of both in this year's bowl games.

The MWC was (4-1) while the WAC was (1-3). In the one game these teams played against eachother, the MWC destroyed the WAC (New Mexico over Nevada 23-0).

If I am not mistaken, this same Nevada team took the mighty Hawaii Warriors right down to the wire, where Hawaii escaped with a last second field goal victory.

On the other hand, you have the Southern Conference, the most competitive out of the FCS. You have teams like The Citadel who put up 31 against Wisconsin, or Wofford who were the first to knock off App State after they had beaten Michigan. Then you have Georgia Southern, the most storied of all FCS teams, who ended App State's home winning streak. Then you have an up and coming Elon team, who played South Florida pretty tough at the beginning of the season, an always tough Furman team, and then of course the three time champion Appalachian State Mountaineers, who knocked off the fifth ranked Michigan Wolverines in the Big House the first game of the season.

I would argue that the offenses and defenses of the Southern Conference rival those of the SEC with how quick they are. There are athletes all over the field. Personally, I would of rather had Walter Payton award winner Jayson Foster as the Quarterback of my team before Colt Brennan or anything the WAC had to offer. Even Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State is amazing.

The rushing games of this conference is a sight to see, most running some form of the option or veer, etc. When they run successfully, any defense struggles with them. Hawaii's defense and all the defenses of the WAC struggled against everybody this year.

Obviously, if there were any games ever scheduled between the two conferences, the emphasis from a fan's perspective would be offense. Every Southern Conference team put up big numbers this season, mostly in the form of running the football, while WAC teams prefer to pass.

I honestly think that if you matched up the teams from each league, that the Southern Conference would win over half the games. Call me crazy, but it's true.

The offenses from the Southern Conference are just too good for the WAC. Of course WAC offenses are considered to be good, because they play each other and neither team has a defense. Southern Conference team's appear not to have the greatest defense either, but they are much faster than those of the WAC and would slow them down.

Maybe the gap between BCS and FCS is rapidly shrinking, and the talent level out of high school is getting better and better. Maybe high school coaches are getting athletes ready to play right of high school more. Maybe they are training them in such a way that they can compete and succeed on the highest of levels.

I am biased to the south, considering that I am from Georgia—but I believe the best and most competitive football is played here. Why do you think the SEC dominates every year? Necause all of the talent in this area wants to play for an SEC team.

Like I said before, many kids on Southern Conference teams have transferred from SEC schools. Not every great player can play at once, so they look elsewhere and they find the Southern Conference.

Hawaii was completely destroyed and overwhelmed by Georgia's defense (and offense for that matter). The last time Georgia Southern played the Georgia Bulldogs, they scored 35 on them. Obviously it was not the same personel, but they competed. Hawaii did not compete at all; they didn't even belong on the same field. Appalachian State beat a Michigan team who went on to beat Florida in their bowl game—so what does that say for the FCS?

To end my argument, I will say this: college football has become more and more exciting to watch after this season. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day, the talent gap between divisions is rapidly decreasing, and pretty soon there will be a good MADNESS amongst the college sports world.

Kentucky Basketball: Wildcats a Force to be Reckoned With

Kirby Morris — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:38:58 -0500

The University of Kentucky men's basketball team has had more ups and downs this season than a roller coaster.

The Wildcats lost to a lowly Gardner-Webb team (which currently sports a record of 8-11) in the beginning of the season, before beating the likes of University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt, both ranked opponents.

There is an answer to why all this transpired and I have it.

Simply put: DEFENSE.

While this seems like an obvious answer and it might be; the difference between wins and losses for the Wildcats comes down to the amount of points the Wildcats gave up in their losses compared with wins. In UK's nine losses they have given up an average of 80 points per game, while in its eight wins UK opponents have only mustered 52 points per contest.

That my friends is a huge differential of almost 30 points. If you watched the Kentucky and Tennessee game on Jan. 22nd, you witnessed possibly the best defensive showing all season out of any team.

The Wildcats were the first team to truly slow and frustrate the Volunteer's offense.

Chris Lofton was held scoreless in the second half until he hit two separate 3-point prayers followed by a few harmless free throws. Kentucky's plan was to play tough man to man while having a spy, so it was like there were one and a half men on one the entire game.

Give credit to the Kentucky players, but also give recognition to the Kentucky coaching staff and head coach Billy Gillispie.

I have been one of Gillispie's biggest critics. I, like all Kentucky fans, hate losing and have not experienced much of it in my life. It is not a coincidence that virtually the same Kentucky team won 22 games last year. The team has looked very out-of-sink this year, almost as if it had no clue on offense while playing suspect defense.

The Wildcats have also been hit hard with the injury bug. Losing two top sophomores for key stretches in Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper has left the scoring burden up to three players in Joe Crawford, Ramel Bradley and freshman sensation Patrick Patterson.

Gillispie is finally starting to form the team to his liking. He stresses competing in every game as well as having a big amount of toughness. As the team progresses it could become one able to make a run.

I am not just another Kentucky fan who thinks we can and should win the National Championship every year. However, I do think we can compete with anyone.

Yes, this same Kentucky team that lost to Gardner-Webb is now a force to be reckoned with.

The one thing left they have to prove to me is winning on the road, a task they have yet to accomplish. I think that first road win will come Saturday, February 2nd, in Athens, Georgia. This Georgia team has had spurts, but Kentucky should beat it and could go on a roll from here.

It is still early in the season and there are many things that can happen. Do not be surprised if UK works its way back into an NCAA tourney berth and causes more than a little trouble. The Wildcats have the tools to do so and a coach that can help them succeed.

I will make a BOLD prediction right now and say the Kentucky Wildcats WILL make it to the SEC title game.

You heard it from me first and do not be surprised when it happens.