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Week at a Glance
Suggesting New Year's resolutions
Posted: Monday December 25, 2000 3:04 PM
By Albert Lin, CNNSI.com
Now that we've handed out the Glance's holiday gifts, it's time for the recipients to do their parts. Herewith, suggested New Year's resolutions for some of the nation's coaches, players and teams.
Stanford: To finally return to the Final Four and prove that three seasons' worth of top-10 rankings is deserved.
Southern California: To put aside individual numbers -- which everyone on the squad is capable of producing -- and come together as a team.
Herb Sendek, N.C. State: To establish the Wolfpack as the state's No. 2 program, before Matt Doherty rights the Tar Heels' ship.
Georgia Tech: To give coach Paul Hewitt time to complete what looks to be a quick rebuilding.
Steve Robinson, Florida State: To resign.
Al Anagonye and David Thomas, Michigan State: To continue playing just as hard and just as well after being supplanted in the starting five by Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor.
Bill Self, Illinois: To land a great recruiting class and take the Illini deep into the tournament, making Lon Kruger regret bolting to the NBA.
Reggie Evans, Iowa: To get a double-double in every game -- and to do it again next season.
Bill Martin, Michigan AD: To replace Brian Ellerbe with someone who can coach as well as recruit.
Gene Keady, Purdue: To smile more.
Northwestern: To do something so that Bill Carmody never wonders why he left Princeton for this.
Ron Slay, Tennessee: To put the Vols on his back and carry them as far as he can, because if he won't do it no one else will.
Tubby Smith, Kentucky: To not subject youngest son Brian to the scrutiny of playing point guard for him as a Wildcat.
Florida guards: To keep getting better until frontcourt reinforcements arrive next season.
LSU: To go further than last year's team, even without Stromile Swift and Jabari Smith.
Joe Johnson: To rediscover the game that led many people to pick him as SEC player of the year.
Kansas: To advance further in the tournament than North Carolina, for Roy Williams' sake.
Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma: To somehow keep everyone on this deep and talented team happy and productive.
Texas: To develop to the point where Rick Barnes can rely on a set rotation.
Eddie Sutton, Oklahoma State: To surprise the conference and the country again when everyone has counted his team out.
Troy Bell, Boston College: To become the best point guard in B.C. history, passing the likes of John Bagley, Michael Adams, Dana Barros and Howard Eisley.
Connecticut: To prove that last season was a fluke and that we aren't all overestimating the talent level on the Huskies.
Troy Murphy, Notre Dame: To not enter a bar again until his 21st birthday (May 2).
Rutgers: To never be as bad as the Scarlet Knights football team.
Pat Kennedy, DePaul: To continue to recruit Chicago as well as he has, but to start winning with that talent.
Memphis: To not implode playing its relentless schedule, holding the fort until help arrives next season.
Alton Ford, Houston: To start playing like someone who is 6-foot-9, 265 pounds (6.0 rebounds per game, 39.5 percent from the field?).
Rick Majerus, Utah: To order Chinese takeout just a little less.
UNLV: To suspend the basketball program for a year or two, if it can't be run cleanly.
Rick Pitino, Boston Celtics: To return to college coaching, where he belongs. Please.
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| Tito Maddox, 6-4, so., PG, Fresno State |
| Talk about instant impact. Maddox, who missed last season as a partial qualifier and then was suspended the first eight games this year for contact with an agent, led the Bulldogs to wins in his first three college games. He put up 19 points and 13 assists against Toledo, 20 and nine against Louisiana-Lafayette, and 17 points, seven boards and nine dishes against Georgia. Now all Tark has to do is keep the Compton, Calif., native in school (and eligible) for more than a year or two. |
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| Willie Taylor: Virginia Commonwealth sophomore (and Georgetown transfer) explodes for 41 points (15-19 FG, 7-10 3-pt. FG) and nine rebounds in just 27 minutes of playing time in a 90-82 San Juan Shootout win over Evansville.
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| Larry Reid: Juco transfer guard scores 31 points (10-15 FG) as Kansas State notches only its second win against a ranked opponent in the past five seasons, handing No. 19 Iowa its first loss, 86-78.
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| Jacksonville State: The Gamecocks beat Charleston Southern 81-68 on Dec. 21 using no subs because six players were suspended for violating team rules. Sophomore guard Johnny Kilpatrick had 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead five players playing 40 minutes.
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| Darren Kelly: After missing the first semester on academic suspension, the Texas senior point guard returns to action by scoring a total of 44 points in a win at Houston and a huge upset of No. 5 Illinois.
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| Muhammed Lasege: Nigerian center wins court injunction against NCAA, which had ruled him a professional, and scores six points in his debut for Louisville. Unfortunately, the Cardinals need more help than this.
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| Wesley Stokes: How fast would the Missouri freshman be if his 'do didn't create do much drag?
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| Grant Wahl: Wins this battle in the Casey Jacobsen-Mike Dunleavy Jr., Stanford-Duke war, as Jacobsen scores 26 points and hits the game-winner in the Cardinal's incredible comeback win over the Blue Devils. |
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| Temple: Mired in a seven-game losing streak, John Chaney suspends/boots Carlton Aaron, Quincy Wadley hurts his shoulder, and now Ronald Blackshear wants out. The Owls finally win for the first time in a month, but now face Big Five matchups against Penn and La Salle. When it rains, it pours.
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| Frank Williams: The Illinois sophomore was thisclose to being our favorite player this week. Then he went 1-for-14 from the field in a loss to Texas. Hopefully, Williams didn't blow a once-on-a-lifetime opportunity.
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| Clay Fuller, Marcus Oliver: The Florida Atlantic freshman swingman and the Houston sophomore guard, respectively, both post 0-for-10 efforts from the field (in separate losses). Worse, Fuller fouls out of the Owls' L to Clemson. |
| Travon Bryant: The Missouri freshman is so green he forgets to take off his watch, and has to be reminded to do so by a referee, before stepping onto the court for his first college action, in the Tigers' loss to Illinois. |
| Utah: The struggling Utes have now dropped games to Utah State, Weber State and Southern Utah. Only a Jan. 29 date with Brigham Young can keep Utah from being swept by its instate brethren.
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| Dane Fife: We simply cannot figure out how the Indiana junior was ever a McDonald's and Parade All-American and Mr. Basketball in the state of Michigan. At least his three-point percentage (.458) is higher than his free-throw percentage (.450) ... |
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| Imperfect |
| A host of schools were handed their first losses last week, and once we hit January schedules tend to ratchet up a notch. Out-on-a-limb prediction: By the time the Glance returns Jan. 8, every team in the country will have at least one L. |
| Chemistry grades |
| An influx of players made their season debuts in recent weeks, fresh off of various ineligibilities, suspensions or injuries. Some performed like they'd been with the team all along, others looked understandably rusty. How much these talents disrupt their teams' rotations while trying to establish a role could make or break a school's season. |
| Conference play begins |
| After seven weeks of some great and many not-so-great matchups, we finally get into the meat of the schedule. League games don't carry the gravitas of those in football, where one loss can virtually end a season, but it never hurts to get off to a good start. |
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| Tennessee at Connecticut (women), Saturday, 4 p.m. ET |
| How could we forget this matchup, pitting the two dominant programs in the women's game? The Huskies are so deep, it isn't hyperbole to say their bench would be ranked, perhaps in the top 10. A win by the Vols would be a shocker. |
| Virginia at Wake Forest, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 7 p.m. ET |
| The Cavs made it by Tennessee and the Deacons survived a bit of a challenge from Temple, pretty much guaranteeing both will be undefeated for this game. That means one less perfect team by night's end, and we think Virginia will fall; Wake is as deep, coached just as well, and is superior inside. |
| Seton Hall at Georgetown, Saturday, Jan. 6, noon ET |
| As we saw against Illinois and Michigan State, the Pirates have problems against bigger clubs. Georgetown is one of the biggest in the nation, with three members of the rotation taller than 6-11 and a big-time bruiser in 6-8, 260-pound freshman Mike Sweetney. By season's end this game will go Seton Hall's way, but early on the veteran Hoyas will unleash paranoia. |
| Stanford at Arizona, Saturday, Jan. 6, 1 or 4 p.m. (TBA) ET |
| Who would've thought six weeks ago that at this meeting the Cardinal would be perfect and the Wildcats would have three losses? No matter. Arizona should finally be rolling by the time Stanford comes to town, and we expect a big statement from the Wildcats. |
| Charlotte at Cincinnati, Saturday, Jan. 6, 6:05 p.m. ET |
| The inexperienced 49ers (only two players in their nine-man rotation have been with the club more than one season) appear ready to challenge Cincinnati and DePaul as the cream of Conference USA. Charlotte, which features all-name team members Demon Brown, Butter Johnson and KenKay Jones, will surprise a Bearcats squad that has yet to find an identity. |
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Another year, another underachiever to pick on. True, we could have flayed Brendan Haywood for another 16 weeks, but after Chenowith's performance in 1999-2000 -- the 7-1, 270-pound pivot regressed from 13.5 points and 9.1 rebounds as a sophomore to 8.6 and 5.6, losing his starting job in the process -- how could we resist? The senior needs to prove that last year was an anomaly; if he does that, KU's 24-10 record (11-5, fifth in Big 12) will have been one, too. |
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2000-01 stats: 12.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.7 blocks in 22.7 minutes per game.
The Jayhawks almost blew their game at Ohio State and were fortunate to escape with a victory. Chenowith, however, was not so lucky, having to play against one of the country's best shot-blockers in Ken Johnson. Our man was pitiful, going 1-for-8 from the field and 1-for-4 from the line for three points and five rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
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Come back Jan. 8 for a new Week at a Glance.
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