UNC's future and more mailbag answers (cont.)

As for Clint's question, there's no doubt that my answer would be Duke's interior problems. As I wrote, Brian Zoubek is disappearing fast, and it is becoming a problem. You saw that clearly in Wednesday night's 27-point drubbing by Clemson, when Zoubek, who did not even start, was a non-factor with two points and two rebounds in just 11 minutes. Wake Forest can learn to execute better at the end of games, but Duke cannot trade for a center it doesn't have.

That is, unless the Blue Devils get a visit from the Jigsaw Man, which Jordan Narvey of Minneapolis has requested:

Who do you think would benefit my Blue Devils the most? And please don't say Tyler Hansbrough.

Hansbrough would benefit anybody, but he is too obvious a choice. The Jigsaw Man eschews obvious choices. The Blue Devils need a big man who can run the floor, get rebounds and blocks and who doesn't need a lot of shots to stay happy. The Jigsaw Man's missing piece: Tony Gaffney, a 6-8 senior forward at UMass who is ranked third in the nation in blocks at 4.5 per game to go along with 10.9 boards and 11.4 points on 53.5 percent shooting.

Does Oklahoma have the depth needed to make a NCAA tournament run? They rely heavily on their starting five.
-- Bill Kinnamon, Norman, Okla.

Apparently, Jeff Capel shared Bill's concern, because three weeks ago Capel convinced Juan Pattillo, a 6-6 junior-college transfer, to forgo his redshirt and join the Sooners for the stretch run. Pattillo is exactly the high-energy, off-the-bench glue guy Oklahoma needed. He saved Oklahoma on Wednesday night against Texas A&M when everyone else (including Blake Griffin) seemed out of gas. Pattillo has averaged 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in just 17.3 minutes over his last four games, and his presence in the lineup has made a very good team even better.

Who is a better player: DaJuan Summers or Raymar Morgan? They're kind of the same guy, don't you think?
-- David Conner, Williamsport, Pa.

They may both be versatile 6-8 junior forwards -- Summers at Georgetown and Morgan at Michigan State -- but I'm not sure I'd call them the same guy. Summers is more comfortable on the perimeter, while Morgan is more effective on the block. But if you check the numbers, you can see Summers is having the better season, though keep in mind Morgan has been struggling the last three weeks because he has walking pneumonia:

Summers 15.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.2 spg, 51.9% fg, 42.1% 3fg

Morgan 12.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.6 spg, 58.0% fg, 26.7% 3fg

It's also worth noting that while Summers's scoring average and three-point percentage has increased over last season, Morgan's has gone down in both cases. Summers is also playing more consistently. So right now I'd go with Summers, but Morgan is certainly capable of rallying the last month-and-a-half of the season.

Who are the top five possible candidates for the newly opened Georgia job, and who do you think would be the best fit?
-- Steve Timlin, Atlanta

As I wrote this week, Oklahoma's Jeff Capel is far and away Georgia's top choice. In fact, the school had a lucrative offer ready last year until Dennis Felton ruined their plans and won the SEC tournament. (This year they had to fire Felton in February, lest he pull off another miracle.) If Georgia can't get Capel, I believe the school's next choices are (in order) VCU's Anthony Grant, a former assistant at Florida, and Tubby Smith, who was Georgia's coach from 1995-97.

My No. 4 choice is Miami's Frank Haith, who is coming to grips with how hard it is to win in the ACC and how little fan interest there is at Miami. Finally, I'll throw in Missouri's Mike Anderson, who coaches an entertaining style and has ties to the region from previous stints as an assistant at Arkansas and head coach at UAB.

One name you did not see on my list is one Robert Montgomery Knight. If Knight is really set on getting back into coaching -- and I believe he is -- there are much better fits out there, for him and for the school. He may be interested in Georgia, but I do not believe Georgia is interested in him.