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Let the party begin Ten pressing questions entering the 2000-01 season
Updated: Monday November 13, 2000 8:56 AM
You've pretended to give a hoot about how the Bowl Alliance rankings will shake out, or whether the baseball season will end with a Subway Series. You've tracked the Dow Jones, you've checked out a few episodes of Survivor and, in a moment of acute desperation, you actually tuned into the presidential debates. But now you can stop pretending to care about anything else. You can rub your eyes, stretch your arms and emerge from your long hibernation. That's right, hoopheads, it's our time of year again. Time to par-tay. And so, with Midnight Madness approaching this weekend, yours truly is here to set the table for the 2000-01 season. Once the games get under way next month, I'll offer weekly installments to let hoopheads around the world know just what I'm thinking, or what I think I'm thinking, or whatever happens to be jumping out of my fingertips at that moment. So we'll start with the tried-and-true formula -- OK, the formula that's been beaten to death -- of playing a little 10 Questions. This will require some two-person dialogue, but fortunately I have split personalities. (And yes, they're both lame.) Herewith, hoopheads, a few crumbs for your plates and palates: 1. Who will make the Final Four? My, my, we're not wasting any time cutting to the chase. Whatever happened to delayed gratification? Well, as long as I asked, I'll go with Arizona, Duke, Michigan State and Illinois. It seems that most of the preseason magazines and polls are split between Arizona and Duke, but I think 'Zona is the clear favorite. 2. What, no sleeper? Yes, of course, someone whom no one expects to be there will invariably make it to Minneapolis. Thus, my short list of candidates includes Arkansas, Iowa State, Notre Dame and USC. I'm sure I'll have more of these as the season wears on. In fact, I won't stop until I've mentioned all 300-plus Division I teams as possible Final Four sleepers. That way, when one of them makes the Final Four, I can say, "See? I called it! Street cred for me!" 3. What coach is on the hot seat right now? This term is usually applied to those who are in danger of losing their jobs, but given the rash of turnover in the profession the last two years -- not to mention the shocking hurricane of sanity that blew through Bloomington, Ind., last month -- I think you'll find very few high-profile coaches on the chopping block next spring. (Though two John Calipari disciples, Bill Bayno at UNLV and Bruiser Flint at UMass, are first in line at the galley steps.) Thus, I'll go here with Gary Williams at Maryland. I'm sure G-Dub will keep his job no matter how the Terps do this season, but this is the most talented, experienced group of players he has ever had at his alma mater. That's good news-bad news, because if the season ends in another NCAA tournament flameout, the whispers of disaffection in College Park will become noticeably louder. (Ditto, by the way, for Tennessee coach Jerry Green, except the alma mater part.) 4. Who's your preseason All-America team? Would it be too easy to answer Arizona's starting five? OK, then I'll just take Jason Gardner (though I'm told that Gilbert Arenas is tearing things up in preseason pickup games out there). Alongside Jason I'll take Notre Dame's Troy Murphy, Duke's Shane Battier, Arkansas' Joe Johnson and Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley. (Michigan State's Jason Richardson is the first guy off my bench.) And Battier is my player of the year; no one does more to help his team win. 5. Why aren't you jumping on the Seton Hall bandwagon? First of all, there's no more room at the moment. Secondly, while the Pirates should be favored to win the Big East and will be one of the most exciting teams to watch, it's extremely difficult to get to a Final Four -- not to mention win a national championship -- by depending mostly on freshmen and sophomores, especially at point guard. Duke found that out last year, when Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy stumbled in the postseason after brilliant freshmen campaigns. If all of Seton Hall's players (read: Samuel Dalembert and Eddie Griffin) return next year, Seton Hall could be preseason No. 1. Then again, what are the chances of that happening? (Note to self: Identify Seton Hall as Final Four "sleeper" in next web column.) 6. Which coach will flourish the most in his new job? Matt Doherty is going to inject some much-needed energy into a North Carolina program that was becoming a little stodgy, and Calipari is going to bring similar excitement to Memphis (though Cal doesn't have the players this year to really make an impact). But my vote here goes to Bill Self at Illinois. Self has everything you could want in a coach. He's tough as nails on the sideline but doesn't take himself too seriously off the court. More to the point, he has a great group of players to work with, talented guys who were a little young and a little raw last year but who are ready to break out for a big season. 7. What are the best movies of the fall season? Who do I look like, Roger Ebert? (That was a rhetorical question, smart guy.) I loved Meet the Parents and Best in Show, but I don't see anything touching Almost Famous. 8. What freshman will have the biggest impact? Seton Hall, as I mentioned, has a couple of good ones in Griffin and point guard Andre Barrett. Alabama's Gerald Wallace and South Carolina's Rolando Howell should immediately improve their team's chances of getting back to the NCAAs. But the smart money here is on Michigan State behemoth Zach Randolph, who might be the best big man in the country if he sheds a few pounds. 9. What will be the most significant early season game? Among the early tournaments, the Coaches versus Cancer Classic in Madison Square Garden on Nov. 9-10 (Kansas, Kentucky, St. John's and UCLA) and the Maui Invitational over Thanksgiving (Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois and Maryland) have the best fields. But for a one-shot deal, I'm going with Kentucky at North Carolina on Dec. 2, otherwise known as the Jason Parker Bowl. Parker is the stud freshman forward whom UNC released from his scholarship this fall after his standardized test score was questioned. Parker transferred to Kentucky, whereupon UK discovered an oversight regarding his high school transcripts that allowed him to be eligible right away. The wine-and-cheese crowd in Chapel Hill was hoping Parker would be wearing a blue uniform on Dec. 2, but not this shade. Well, at least it isn't Duke blue. 10. Who are the transfers to watch? Michael Bradley (Kentucky to Villanova), Chris Burgess (Duke to Utah), Ruben Douglas (Arizona to New Mexico) and Adam Harrington (N.C. State to Auburn) will all have major impacts on schools that will be fighting for NCAA bids. But no transfer will have a better season -- or deserve it more -- than Iowa's Luke Recker. Recker, as you may recall, is the Indiana schoolboy who transferred from IU to Arizona because he was sick of dealing with Bob Knight. (Imagine that.) Before he got to Tucson, Recker was in a devastating car wreck that left his former girlfriend paralyzed. He transferred to Iowa last winter to be closer to home, and word has it he looked great during summer workouts. If Recker has a good year, I think the Hawkeyes will make it to the Sweet 16. Sports Illustrated writer-reporter Seth Davis covers the college basketball
beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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