Newspaper Page Text
I
FINAL FOUR PREDICTIONS
Over the next few weeks, the IMCAA basketball tournaments for both the men and women will hold our attention. Both
tournaments have already begun and many brackets have already been busted. Nevertheless, four women’s teams will
end up in New Orleans and four men’s teams will end up here in Atlanta.
WOMENS BRACKET
Baylor Bears
The women’s No. 1 overall seed Baylor Bears look to book their ticket
to New Orleans. The Bears are powered by their 6-foot-8-inch cen
ter Brittney Griner, who ranks third in the country in scoring with 23.9
points per game and averages 9.0 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots per
game. The Bears have been the best team all year and look to continue
their unbelievable momentum. Their biggest test en route to the Fi
nal Four will come against perennial powerhouse Tennessee, which is
ranked 10th in the AP Top 25.
'
Notre Dame
The Notre Dame Lady Irish are ranked second in the AP Top 25. Sky-
lar Diggins looks to cap off her senior season with another Final Four
trip. The Lady Irish go as Diggins goes. She is their captain and leading
scorer at 16.8 points per game. She is also their floor general and ranks
in the top 25 for assists with 5.9 per game. Second-leading scorer Kayla
McBridge (15.6 ppg.) is the Robin to Diggins’ Superman. The Irish’s big
gest test appears to be a potential matchup with the Duke Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils are ranked 5th in the AP Top 25.
Connecticut:
The Connecticut Fluskies are led by Kalenna Mosqueda-Lewis. She
leads the team in scoring at 17.4 points per game. They are no stranger
to the NCAA tournament as well as the Final Four. Their greatest chal
lenge will come against the University of Kentucky.
California
The California Golden Bears are led by Layshia Clarendon. She leads
the team in scoring at 15.6 points per game. She is also the floor gener
al and makes her teammates better. Their biggest challenge will come
against Stanford.
Duke
The Duke Blue Devils look to book their ticket to the A-town. They
boast one of the nation’s best big men in Mason Plumlee. The Blue Dev
ils’ biggest test will come against the No. 1 overall seed Louisville Car
dinals. 0 VTa AC ;|% :v . ;;:|g
Arizona
The Arizona Wildcats’ point guard, Mark Lyons, has been playing great.
The Wildcats are playing like the top team analysts predicted them to
be at the beginning of the season. Due to the upsets in their region,
their biggest challenge looks to be against Ohio State.
Kansas
The Jayhawks came into the tournament with great momentum, and
look to use it to get to the Final Four. Jeff Withey will be looked upon to
protect the rim on defense and be a low-post threat on offense. Red-
shirt freshman Ben McLemore will be looked upon to make plays on
the offensive end. Their biggest challenge will come against
Indiana
The Indiana Floosiers look to advance to the Final Four behind the play
of their two stars, Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller. Oladipo makes plays
on offense and defense, while Zeller serves as a low-post threat. Their
greatest challenge will come against Miami.
AUTHOR: Chris Womack
Sport Editor
cwomackmj@gmail.com
CHASING DOWN HISTORY
COLLEGE BASKETBALL'S
ONE-AND-DONE RULE
Jordan Lindsay
Contributing Writer
Jordan Jmdsay4@gmai 1 .com
Can you remember what you were
doing on Friday, Feb. 1,2013? Neither can
I. But what may have been an average night
to you was the beginning of something very
special for the Miami Heat. It was the day
that three-time MVP LeBron James and
the rest of the Heat began a legendary 26-
game win streak that has lasted nearly two
months.
Behind the seemingly perfect play
of MVP candidate LeBron James and the
resurgence of Dwyane Wade, the Heat have
been unstoppable. Averaging 49.8 points
combined, the duo has willed the rest of
their team to step up and play some of the
best basketball of their careers.
Though the Heat have cruised past
many of their opponents, these last two
months have been no picnic. In four of their
last five victories, the Heat have watched
their opponents get out to double-digit leads,
forcing them to rally back with strong fourth
quarters to win the close games.
This was proven true, as no game
was more difficult than victory versus the
Cleveland Cavaliers. Down as many as 27
points with seven minutes left in the third
quarter, James stepped up with a monster
second half, scoring 19 of his 25 points
quarterbacking his team to yet another vic
tory.
“It’s all about a will to win,” James said af
ter the victory against his former team. You
stick to your principles and go out there, dig
deep and play as hard as you can.”
Though it’s been an exciting high
light of the season, this hasn’t been the first
streak of its kind. The 2007-2008 Houston
Rockets were the last team to win more than
20 consecutive games. The Rockets, led by
the superb play of Tracy McGrady, had their
streak cut short by the Boston Celtics.
Ironically, the Celtics also had the same op
portunity to cut Miami’s winning ways just
short of 23 games, but in an exciting come-
from-behind victory, the Heat defeated the
Celtics and surpassed Houston’s mark of 22
wins in a row.
McGrady, the former Rocket, seems
to be the only one who is unenthused by the
Heat’s hot streak.
“The way we did it was a lot harder,” he
said, referring to Houston’s lack of depth
due to the absence of then Houston All-Star
center Yao Ming during a large part of the
win streak. “And we didn’t have three guys
making $100 million,” he said sarcastically,
referring to a plethora of superstars, namely
“the Big 3” of Chris Bosh, James and Wade
who all signed max-contracts before the
2010-2011 season.
So what’s next for the streaking
Heat? They now have set their sights on
breaking a record. The 1971-1972 Los An
geles Lakers hold the record for the longest
winning streak in NBA history with 33 wins
in a row. With only seven more games left
to tie the record that has lasted for more than
40 years, many current and former players
and coaches around the league think that it
is more than possible.
Hall of Famer and former Lakers
guard Jerry West thinks the Heat have an
“incredible chance to do it.” West, a member
of the ‘71-’72 Lakers and the logo of the
NBA, thinks that the streak will continue to
challenge the Heat to become even better.
“There’s gonna be more and more
focus on the games, and I think it makes the
players focus more on trying to achieve the
record that everyone said couldn’t be bro
ken,” West said.
With eight games left, the rest of the
world will watch and see if the Heat have
what it takes to continue to make history.
But until then, “the streak continues” as
Wade said so simply.
Curtis D. Jackson III
Associate Copy Editor
curtisdj3@aol.com
Can you remember what you were
doin Yes, March Madness is finally here, and
while many were filling out their brackets,
others were wondering where are the stars
who will lead their team to the Final Four in
Atlanta. This NCAA tournament could be one
of the first years fans won’t see any household
names like Anthony Davis, Derrick Rose,
Kevin Durant or Tyler Hansbrough leading a
powerhouse program over the next few weeks.
In the past three years, the college game has
arguably gotten weaker and weaker, and has
sent only two superstars to the pros: Cleve
land’s Kyrie Irving and Paul George - who is
emerging into a solid All-Star for the Indiana
Pacers. The one-and-done rule that lets bas
ketball players become pros after spending
only one year in college is hurting the college
game, and in the long run could hurt the NBA
game.
It’s no shocker when an analyst predicts that
this will be one of the weaker draft classes
in NBA history because there are no clear-
cut No. 1 picks who are capable of leading a
professional team. Anthony Davis is a prime
example. Yes, everyone knew he would be the
No. 1 pick last year, but imagine how much
better his game and this Kentucky Wildcats
team - whose season ended against Robert
Morris in the first round of the NIT tournament
- would be if he had stayed until his sopho
more or junior year of college.
“You can’t have or sustain excellence chang
ing players every other year,” basketball ana
lyst Jay Williams said on ESPN. “That’s the
culture of the one-and-done system.”
Michael Jordan, one of the greatest to ever
play the game, stayed at the University of
North Carolina for three years before he took
his talents to the NBA. His team benefited
from his time there by winning a national
championship and competing for a title every
year he was there.
Shaquille O’Neal, one of the greatest cen
ters to ever play the game, stayed three years
at Louisiana State University before being
drafted by the Orlando Magic, and winning
four championships with the Lakers and Heat
before retiring. According to ESPN, O’Neil
admitted that his three years at LSU were the
best time of his life, and he wasn’t as smart as
he thought he was when he entered the profes
sional arena.
Yes, there are exceptions to this rule, players
like Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant, who play
only one season in college and dominate in the
NBA the following year, but how often does
that happen? With this one-and-done rule, the
college game is essentially only producing role
players who will catch on to the fast-paced
NBA game midway through the season.
Damian Lillard, the runaway rookie of the
year, has played better after his four years at
Weber State (he was a redshirted junior when
he entered the draft) than the one-and-done
national champions from Kentucky: Davis (13
points, 8 rebounds per game for New Orleans),
Terrence Jones (who gets almost no playing
time with Houston) and Marquis Teague, the
Bulls’ third-string point guard.
“My coaches developed me each of my four
years there.” Lillard told SB Nation. “It was
never like I showed up to Weber State as an
NBA player. Each summer, they sat down with
me and thought out things that I needed to im
prove upon. I think every year I improved as a
person and a player.”
With the continuation of the one-and-done
rule, the NBA will continue to receive these
half-cooked. NBA-ready players. It’s up to
Commissioner David Stem or his planned suc
cessor, Adam Silver, to sit down with NCAA
officials and ask how can they help the college
game and these players that aren’t ready for
the league.
It’s time for someone to step up and protect the
level of basketball that isn’t ruined by fame or
money.
WWW.THEMAROONTIGER.COM
Recycle The Maroon Tiger
MARCH 29-APRIL 3, 2013