The one-and-doners' drive to win, scary coaches

Kansas State's Michael Beasley may be one-and-done, but he still seems to care about his team's success. Scott Weaver/Icon SMI

MAILBAG Grant Wahl will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

As the 'Bag gets amped for Wednesday's Sunflower State Showdown between Kansas and Kansas State -- the last undefeated teams in the Big 12 -- we begin this week's column on a note of reader cynicism:

Last week you wrote: "I was starting to worry that [Kansas State's] Michael Beasley and USC's O.J. Mayo might never play in an NCAA tournament game, but their teams appear to be coming around at just the right time." I promise that you're more worried about that than Beasley and Mayo themselves. Do you honestly think that any of these one-and-done players cares even the least bit about how his "team for six months" fares?
-- Evan, Philadelphia

This may sound crazy to you, Evan, but I do think Beasley, Mayo and other likely one-and-doners care. I've spoken to Beasley and Mayo for more than two hours each this season, and I'm convinced that both players sincerely want to win. What have you seen either player do or say that would suggest otherwise? In fact, I'd argue that K-State and USC are two of the hottest teams in the country over the past three weeks in large part because Beasley and Mayo have performed at high levels while involving their teammates more than at any time in the season. What's more, both players could be on the verge of a huge week with Kansas State aiming to take down the Jayhawks at home and USC hosting the Arizona schools in Pac-10 play. Even if they were thinking only about the NBA (and I don't think that's the case), wouldn't they have a big financial incentive to succeed in the marketing bonanza that is the NCAA tournament?

I have a good idea for a parlor game. I was thinking the other day how unique it was that the Big 12 has two coaches who played for Big 12 teams yet coach different schools. They are Bill Self (played at Oklahoma State, coaches Kansas) and Mark Turgeon (played at Kansas, coaches Texas A&M). So that got me thinking: Are there other instances where a conference had two coaches at the same time who played for a school in the conference but coached at a different school? The only other example I could think of was when Bob Knight and Steve Alford were both coaching in the Big Ten at the same time. Bob Knight played for Ohio State but coached at Indiana, and of course Alford played at Indiana but coached Iowa.
-- Evan Ferrier, Lawrence, Kan.

Great idea, Evan. Help me out, readers, the 'Bag can't come up with any other doubles. In fact, the only other single current examples we can think of who qualify are Arkansas coach John Pelphrey (played at Kentucky) and Brown coach Craig Robinson (played at Princeton). Yes, we know we'll be subjected to ridicule when you point out how many instances I'm no doubt missing, but we're OK with that if it creates our first good parlor game in a while. Fire away.

In response to the Q&A on Duke flopping, I agree with you. I think Duke players -- who as part of the offense are supposed to attack the rim -- do a good job of avoiding charges because it's something they are drilled to take in practice. On the points made by your readers, I think blaming Duke for the increase in "flopping" is like blaming a good tax attorney for taking advantage of loopholes in the IRS code. Just because your attorney isn't as good, don't get angry. Get a better attorney! There was a great article a few years back about the charge and how eliminating it could improve the game. What do you think of that proposal: if a defender has position then contact generates a no-call, and if he doesn't it's a foul? It's still hard to make a shot when you slam into a guy on your drive to the hoop, and now that's a good defensive tactic without it being a foul on the offensive player.
-- Jeremy Mario, Durham, N.C.

Would there be unintended consequences? Probably. But I like this idea. How many times do you find yourself watching a game and saying "good no-call" in a similar situation? If you're like me, it happens a lot.

In your "scariest coaches" column, you responded to a reader comment on the art of "flopping" by saying that you doubted that coaches had flopping drills in practice. I was a manager of the Columbia men's basketball team from 1985-1987 and I can affirm that the "take-charge drill" was part of practice daily in the preseason, and at least once weekly during the season. A player would stand in the paint and another would come barreling toward him, fast-break style. If you "flopped" correctly, you were done for the day. If the coach decided you would have been called for a block, you had to do it again. Perhaps you'd like to add Wayne Szoke to your "scariest coaches" list.
-- Laurie Kearney, San Diego

Great story, Laurie. Which reminds me, if any readers can submit a Youtube clip of a college team practicing flops we'll be happy to link to it in a future column.

I don't know about you, but I find it impressive that Florida is having the year they're having with such a young roster.
-- Forrest White, Charlottesville, Va.

If we can say the same thing a week from now, I'm with you. The blowout of Vanderbilt in Gainesville was a nice win against a Commodores team that was probably overvalued due to carrying an undefeated record for so long. Still, the Gators' only road wins came against SEC bottom-feeders Alabama and South Carolina, which makes us wonder if Florida will come crashing back to earth with upcoming games at Arkansas (on Saturday) and at Tennessee (Tuesday).

As a college hoops writer and fan of The Wire, you may be interested to know that Ohio State freshman Jon Diebler looks exactly like Bubbles' junkie sidekick.
-- Ben Lewis, Columbus, Ohio

Excellent. So if Diebler is this guy and Pitt's Ronald Ramon is a dead-ringer for Bubbles, can you guys suggest any other Wire look-alikes in college hoops?

The 'Bag writes, "Keep in mind, aside from UNC and Duke, the ACC is pretty bad this season." What? Aside from the fact that the ACC gave the Big Ten its annual beatdown for the 90th consecutive year in the annual ACC/Big Ten Bloodletting, the ACC has the highest-rated RPI by conference.
-- Lee Cheyne, Silver Spring, Md.

I always find conference-vs.-conference debates to be overblown, but let's be honest, everyone: perplexing RPI numbers aside, no reasonable observer can argue that the Pac-10 isn't the best league in the country right now. It's not even close. That comes from watching games, which should count for something. The ACC has a tremendous history and has been the nation's best conference more often than any other, but this is a down season for the league, which is not meeting its previously high standards. ACC fans tend to be smart and know their hoops, but I sometimes encounter a sense of entitlement that just because the ACC logo is on the floor it means the teams playing on it are elite. And that's not always the case.

I've never bought the idea that the best team often doesn't win the title. Often the highest-rated team doesn't win the title, but that doesn't mean they were actually the best. Ratings are often the result of preseason expectation, schedule strength and other perceptions that are often wrong. Looking back, I would say the overwhelming majority of recent champions are teams that I would pick to win in a seven-game series against anybody. I would argue that seven of the last eight champions were in fact the best team in the country that year--maybe not at the start of the season but by tournament time.
-- Al, Washington, D.C.

If you're wondering, I think the NCAA tournament is the best way of deciding a champion. That said: If the match-ups were all decided by seven-game series instead of by single-elimination knockout games, in which years would we have had different champions? I'd argue: 2006, 2005, 2003, 1999, 1997, 1993 and 1991 (going back to 1990). That's "often" to me.

Re: your Frightening 15, what about women's basketball coaches? Pat Summitt of Tennessee has a cold stare that is the epitome of being able to kill someone with just a stare!
-- Grant Cole, Alexandria, Va.

The old Sports Illustrated cover with the black-and-white photo of a scowling Summitt is one of the scariest SI covers of all time, which is why I love it so much. When I finally got to interview Summitt for the first time last summer, I was actually disarmed by her smile, which comes quite freely.

Have there ever been a better crop of freshman names than the following: O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley. I love saying Beasley, don't you? Did you see O.J. MAYO? How quick is that D-ROSE! Beasley was just Beasting people last night, Beasting Beasley!
-- Ryan C., Hoboken, N.J.

Did the average age of the 'Bag reader have an unexpected drop this week?

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