Bald Prophet Review: Week 7 Of The College Hoops Season

Thoughts from Week 7

Individual Performances:

Elliot Williams, Memphis:  20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists vs. SE Missouri State.  When John Calipari took off for the blue pastures of Kentucky many looked at Josh Pastner’s Tigers as the beginning of the end of a dynasty.  Not so fast.  Pastner has recruited much better than could be imagined and Duke transfer Williams has spearheaded the charge. 

Chris Wright, Georgetown.  34 points, six rebounds and six steals vs. Harvard.  What should have been a closer game than people anticipated turned into a blowout thanks to a career night from Wright.  If the Hoyas can continue to get shooting performances from their guards that don’t resemble a show tune (“Clang, Clang, Clang….) they could threaten Syracuse and Villanova for Big East supremacy.

Greivis Vasquez, Maryland.  Average of 26.5 ppg, eight rebounds and eight assists in his last two games.  Vasquez can be an emotional guy but he’s no Ron Artest.  He is determined to win and is more than capable that carrying a team on narrow shoulders.

Team Performances:

Loyola Marymount.  They are now even at 7-7 following a road win over Sacramento State.  Last season they won three games and five games the year before that.  This year’s team has beaten Notre Dame at Notre Dame.  Max Good has brought them back from the depths of college hoops civilization to make them respectable.  I still think a postseason berth is a longshot (even in the CIT or CBI) but somewhere Hank Gathers is smiling.

Southern Cal.  Slowly the Pac-10 is coming back to life.  Thanks to transfer Mike Gerrity (who might actually stay considering this is his third school in four years) the Trojans have won three straight, including a score over ranked UNLV, and also beat Tennessee.  These guys won’t resemble their more successful football brethren any time soon but if Washington slides, hey, why not USC?

Oddity of the Week:

The three-pointer has been credited for changing the game, but after glancing at the top five teams in three-point percentage one has to wonder if it’s a sound strategy to rely on radar love.  In order, the top five are Columbia, Eastern Kentucky, Denver, Iowa State and Xavier.  Right now, I just have Denver making the Dance as the Sun Belt rep but that’s very flimsy since it’s before conference play has gotten into full swing.

And now, you are entering the Top 40 dimension:

1.       Kansas

2.       Texas

3.       Kentucky

4.       Purdue

5.       Syracuse

6.       West Virginia

7.       Duke

8.       North Carolina

9.       Tennessee

10.   Villanova

11.   Kansas State

12.   Connecticut

13.   Georgetown

14.   Michigan State

15.   Ohio State

16.   Georgia Tech

17.   Washington

18.   UAB

19.   Texas Tech

20.   Texas A&M

21.   Florida State

22.   Butler

23.   Oklahoma State

24.   Northwestern

25.   Brigham Young

26.   Temple

27.   New Mexico

28.   Minnesota

29.   Clemson

30.   UNLV

31.   Miami (Fla.)

32.   Gonzaga

33.   Northern Iowa

34.   Ole Miss

35.   Virginia Tech

36.   California

37.   Wisconsin

38.   Missouri State

39.   St. Mary's

40.   Illinois