Other Hoop Thoughts

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• Incidentally, one of the lessons from Rhode Island's win at Syracuse is just how important Donte' Greene is to the Cuse's offense. Greene fouled out of against URI with a little over four minutes remaining and the score tied. The good news for the Orange is that the 6-foot-9 freshman is playing like a lottery pick. The bad news is, he's playing like a lottery pick.

• Looks like Southern Illinois was a bit overrated. The Salukis have lost three straight, albeit to respectable opponents: at USC, against Indiana and in Charlotte. Playing tough, grind-it-out, half-court man-to-man defense is all well and good, but SIU's guards appear to have no ability to score.

• Another much-improved sophomore I missed out on two weeks ago: Arizona forward Jordan Hill. He's averaging 12.9 points and 5.6 rebounds (up from 4.7 and 4.1), and while the rest of the 'Cats were still on West Coast time on Saturday at Illinois, Hill rescued them by going for 23 points and 14 rebounds against the Illini's strong front line.

• What a missed opportunity for the Illini to lose in OT to a ranked team. That's gonna hurt on Selection Sunday.

• Oh, and did Nic Wise call a time out? Yes and no. He sorta kinda made the symbol with his hands, but the ref was standing three feet away and was looking right at Wise's lips, and Nic didn't say a word. In this case, I give the benefit of the doubt to the ref for being in perfect position.

• Looks like it's gonna be a battle between Virginia Tech and Wake Forest for last place in the ACC.

• Wonder if Iowa coach Todd Lickliter is wishing he had stayed at Butler. The Hawkeyes have now lost four of seven, including to an Iowa State team that just got spanked by Drake by 35 points.

• I have no idea who put together Michigan's schedule, but whoever it was didn't do John Beilein any favors. The Wolverines have already played at Georgetown, against Butler in Alaska, vs. Boston College at home and at Duke. Oh, and they still have to play UCLA at home. Not the kind of slate a young team with a new coach needs to be playing.

• Speaking of schedules, it's absolutely mystifying to me that a high-powered program like Duke, which everyone knew was going to be at least a top-15 team coming into the season, is not playing a single true nonconference road game this season. Come on, Coach K! For years, I've heard other coaches grumble that Mike Krzyzewski was playing a lot of his "road" games at regional or neutral sites -- or even at non-neutral neutral sites like Madison Square Garden (aka Cameron North), where Duke will be playing Pittsburgh later this month.

• I'm calling it right now: Kansas will be the nation's last unbeaten team. Check out the Jayhawks' schedule. They've got road games in January at BC and Missouri, but if they survive those I think there's an excellent chance they go into February without a loss.

• George Mason lost at Kent State by 18. Say it ain't so! I guess the much-vaunted CAA is going to be a one-bid league this year.

• It's fair to criticize O.J. Mayo for his inability to make his teammates better. What's not fair is to ascribe that deficiency to a lack of character. Lots of freshmen don't know how to make their teammates better. Heck, lots of seniors, lots of NBA players don't know how to, either. Both Mayo and Tim Floyd are still trying to figure out when Mayo should try to set up his teammates, and when he needs to go get his. Mayo still has a lot to learn, but that doesn't make him a bad guy.

• Pitt's Sam Young and UCLA's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute: both are high-level athletes who have always been solid defenders, and now are now vastly improved on offense. Don't be surprised if those guys are playing against each other in the Final Four.

• Notre Dame looked pretty good when I saw them live at the Garden last week, but it's apparent that sophomore point guard Tory Jackson is still not quite comfortable playing alongside Kyle McAlarney. Last year, after McAlarney was suspended for the season following his marijuana arrest, Jackson could be a freewheeling scorer. Now that he has to be more of a setup man, he seems uncomfortable.

• I really like this freshman at Oregon, Kamyron Brown. Sure, he's a little wild, but he's the only point guard the Ducks have, and he really makes things happen when he comes off the bench.

• Speaking of freshmen (when are we not speaking of freshmen?), A.J. Ogilvy at Vanderbilt is for real, folks. Big, strong, extremely skilled Aussie. Really makes me want to throw a shrimp on the barbee.

• I don't know about you, but I'm a little weary of hearing coaches talk about how young their teams are. Hey, guys, this is college hoops 2007. Everybody's young. Get over it!

• Gonzaga is missing Josh Heytvelt even more than I thought they would. The Bulldogs' other post options, Abdullahi Kuso and Robert Sacre, just can't give them consistent minutes. And without a post scorer to draw in the defense, the Zags' perimeter shooters are much less effective. Sounds like Heytvelt could be back by the end of this month, but it will be a while before he's caught up conditioning-wise.

• Lost in the drama of Washington's one-point loss to Pitt last Saturday was the return of Huskies' 6-2 senior guard Ryan Appleby from a wrist injury. Appleby scored 18 points off the bench, and though it wasn't enough to carry his team to victory, it was pretty impressive for a guy who hadn't played all season. Don't count UW out for an NCAA bid just yet.

• To me, the main lesson of Memphis' narrow escape against USC's triangle-and-two defense is that John Calipari needs to develop a consistent third scorer outside of Derrick Rose (who's not a great scorer anyway in the half court) and Chris Douglas-Roberts. The most likely possibility would be Robert Dozier, but so far he hasn't shown he wants to be that guy.

• I know Butler lost its first game of the season at Wright State, but you should know that the Bulldogs played both games last week without Pete Campbell, the 6-7 senior forward who is averaging 14.1 points and shooting 50.0 percent from three-point range. Campbell sprained his right knee against Ohio State and should be back in the next 1-2 weeks. Plus, there's no shame in losing by one on the road to a conference opponent. That's why I left Butler at No. 17 on my AP ballot, the same spot where I had them last week.

• Kansas State needs David Hoskins back in the worst way. Hoskins is a 6-5 senior swingman who averaged 14.5 points and 5.9 rebounds last year and was voted second team All-Big 12. He has been out since having knee surgery on Nov. 8 and the best case scenario is that he'll return for the start of conference play. Without him, the Wildcats are hurting for perimeter scorers to take the heat off Michael Beasley and Bill Walker inside.

• I honestly never thought I'd say (or in this case type) this, but ... How about that Southland Conference! Texas-Arlington is 8-0 with a win at Wichita State. Sam Houston State is 8-0 with wins over Texas Tech, Fresno State, at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and at St. Louis. And Stephen F. Austin is 7-1 with a win at Oklahoma last Saturday.

• I love watching Washington State's Robbie Cowgill play. Not only is he a prime candidate for my world-famous All-Glue team, but every time he touches the ball, I get to channel my best Christopher Walken and scream, "I need more Cowgill!"

• So I dinged the Michigan State Spartans a couple weeks ago by listing them as one of my teams that were worse than we thought. Well, after winning on the road last week at Bradley and BYU, they're definitely as good as "we" thought. It helps that Tom Izzo has settled on his original starting lineup, with his experienced guys beginning the game and the three freshmen coming off the bench. The other lesson here is, as good as Drew Neitzel is, this team is at its best when Raymar Morgan is its best player.

• Looks like Marreese Speights is still having conditioning issues down at Florida, which is why he's only averaging 20.3 minutes per game. He also hasn't been playing up to Billy Donovan's standards on defense. That certainly won't earn a guy more playing time.

• I was really disheartened to see Scotty Hopson, the mega-talented swingman from Hopkinsville, Ky., say he was still committed to Mississippi State but is willing to consider other schools. Give me a break. Either he should de-commit and re-open his recruitment, or he should make it clear to all potential suitors that he is sticking with Mississippi State. A few weeks ago I spoke up for Hopson and his fellow high school seniors by saying the National Letter of Intent (which he has yet to sign) was unfair to the players. But this kind of untrustworthy behavior is unfair to the coaches and is exactly what necessitated the NLI in the first place.