Pac-12 Dominating 2012 Recruiting Class

Shabazz Muhammad will become the new face of the Pac-12

I’m a big-time Chicago Bulls fan, being that I’m about hour south of the Windy City, but college basketball has always outweighed the NBA for me. With that being said, I have paid attention more to the post-season NCAA coaching and player moves than I have to the NBA playoff races. One of the things that have caught my eye about the upcoming college basketball season is the successful recruiting done by the Pac 12. There is a possibility that seventeen of the top 100 recruits will be making their way west this coming fall in hopes that they can help restore a conference that is currently in shambles.

This past season for the Pac 12 was, to say the least, unentertaining. Colorado won the conference tournament which should send up a red flag right away. Colorado? Come on, the team finished 11-7 in conference play. Teams with 11-7 records in other conferences finished, at the highest, third or fourth. Not to say that other teams such as Washington, Arizona, and Oregon didn’t have decent years, but the Pac 12 was once a feared conference. So what happened?

Maybe it was the lack of recruiting to that whole region of the country. Maybe it was the falling out of programs that were once the most respected in the nation. Yes, that must be it. Teams like UCLA and Arizona were dysfunctional to say the least. Arizona made a great run in the tournament in 2011, yes, but this year they did not even make the field. Instead, they were paired with Bucknell in the first round of the NIT and lost to the eighth seeded Bison by nine points. UCLA on the other was suffering from locker room issues as well as player/coach relationships for about the second or third year straight. The situation got so bad to the point that ESPN talked about it about four days a week and Coach Ben Howland’s job security was in jeopardy. The season finished on the lowest note it has in awhile for the member of the Power Six conferences.

Now, let us fast forward to 2012. You can’t change the past, Timon and Pumbaa even said so. But with the recruiting that has been done by the Pac 12 this past winter and spring will surely change the future on the west coast. According to the ESPNU Top 100, seventeen rising stars could attend and play for a Pac 12 school this coming fall/winter. Ten of those recruits will potentially make their way to either UCLA or Arizona (Anthony Bennett, Christopher Obekpa, Torian Graham, and Savon Goodman are have not yet committed). Ten percent of the top recruits will do their best to aid the resurgence of the Pac 12.

It’s already exciting to see guys turn down currently successful schools like Kentucky, Duke, and Ohio State and instead choose schools that are rebuilding. That to me shows character in young athletes. I thought that Shabazz Muhammad’s quote saying that he wants to help rebuild UCLA was extremely mature because, nowadays, so many athletes want to team up and play together to win. Muhammad could’ve gone straight to Lexington with Nerlens Noel and tried to make it to Atlanta. It’s refreshing to see that some athletes still have the confidence that they don’t have to team up with anyone to win. However, in no way am I saying that top recruits that attend the same universities are trying to take the easy way out because you see athletes recruit each other all the time. What I’m saying is it takes a special player to go to a school that’s struggling and try to bring the program back to the top. That’s what’s so admirable.

This next season brings in a lot of fresh, young talent and with the anti-climactic finish of this past year’s tournament, I’m ready to go. With the new additions to the Pac 12, there’s no argument as to why they can’t be represented in the tournament by three or four teams. Last year was rough on the west coast, but this year will surely present much more talent and competition.

"Next Year" Still Isn't Here for Cubbies

Once again, for what seems to be a yearly habit, the Cubs are starting the season on the wrong foot. With a dismal record of 5-12, the North side of Chicago has seldom been a joyous area since Opening Day kicked off another season in the MLB. So much has gone wrong in a program that proved in Spring Training to have a fair amount of potential. With the Division rival Cardinals losing three HUGE assets to their team (Pujols, Duncan, and LaRussa), you would have thought that the Cubbies would have come out ready to go and ready to make a run to the postseason. Well, not so much.

But what is it that is so wrong with the Cubs? You have Theo Epstein completely redecorating the farm system, you have Starlin Castro as your new posterchild, and you have a manager whose first words were along the lines of “this team needs an attitude change.” With a list like that, the team looks as if it could be a contender on paper. However, the woes in Chicago have proved that this team has a long way to go. The All-Star shortstop already has seven errors and the former Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto is basically non-existent at the plate, batting an awful .136 with only one RBI.

Leadership is one thing this team needs most. And when your two leaders are both A.) young and B.) struggling on both defense and offense, the locker room atmosphere has the potential of taking a turn for the worst. If the Cubs want to come back this season, it starts with Castro and Soto. Forget guys that are older such as Alfonso Soriano and Bryan LaHair. Soriano’s too selfish to be a leader and LaHair is just as inexperienced as anyone.

Now don’t get me wrong, with the work that Epstein put into the offseason, it’d be foolish to expect this team to gel right away. With that being said, team chemistry has nothing to do with fielding, throwing, and hitting the ball. When your hitting .235 as a team and have already committed fourteen errors, there should be no question as to what needs to be the main focus. The Cubs are young, but they need a serious wake-up call if they want to salvage this pathetic start. I like what Epstein has done with all the fresh, young talent, and I’m a firm believer that with more experience, this Cubs team could be a threat in a few years. But the nonsense that has gone on thus far can’t keep happening. Wake up fellas, or the next five months will be a living hell for the front office, team, and fans alike.

Chicago Bulls Winning With Team Basketball

Watson and Deng celebrate after Watson's three in the 4th

At 46-15 the Chicago Bulls own the best record in the NBA for the second consecutive year and have run away with the Central Division yet again. The Bulls have their star in Derrick Rose, but what has made them so special this year and what has separated them from other top competition such as Miami is the fact that they play some of the best team basketball in the league. Coach Tom Thibodeau is more than willing to use his bench, which has taken on the nickname "The Benchmob" and a different guy steps up big for Chicago every single game. While Rose is the centerpiece to the team, they do not rely on him too heavily like other teams do with their stars. Chicago is 17-7 without Rose in the lineup and have beaten the Miami Heat twice without him. In March Rose sat out with an injury and last Thursday Rose played, but had the worst game of his career. He was non-factor, scoring only two points in a Bulls victory at the United Center.
In the game versus the Heat in March the Bulls played one of their better games of the season, winning 106-102 in a high-intensity game with a playoff feel. Third string point guard John Lucas III stepped up that night, scoring 24 points and continually bringing the United Center crowd to its feet. In the first half Lucas drained three threes in a row and in the second half found himself being guarded by LeBron James. Lucas calmly dribbled out toward halfcourt and took James one-on-one, burying a fadeaway jumper in his face and sending Bulls fans everywhere into pandemonium. Not only were the Bulls without Rose, but Carlos Boozer only scored two points. However, six different Bulls scored in double figures and the entire Chicago bench finished the game +6 or higher. No Rose, no problem.

Fast forward to last Thursday night when the Bulls defeated the Heat yet again 96-86 in an overtime thriller. Rose played 25 minutes, shot 1-13 from the field and scored just two points. This time it was C.J. Watson's turn to be big. Down three with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Watson drilled a step back three in Dwyane Wade's face to send the game to overtime. Watson finished with 16 points and nine assists for the game while four other Bulls finished with double figures. The two games against the Heat have come to define this Bulls team. Is Rose the best player on the floor for Chicago when he plays? Certainly, but the Bulls have a team and there is a confidence that no matter what five are on the floor they will get the job done.

And despite Rose's performance, this post is not meant to criticize the superstar or question his worth to the team. He is still having an incredible year stat wise with 22.5 points, 7.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, but what is perhaps the most impressive thing about Rose is the way he handled himself last Thursday. In a time he would usually find himself taking the big shot, Rose sat on the bench and watched as his teammates battled the Heat in the fourth quarter and, when it came time for the last second shot, he watched as Watson sank the three.

"I'm fine, man," Rose said of coach Tom Thibodeau's decision to sit him down the stretch. "Anything to win. Where he felt that lineup was going to win the game, it won the game, and I can't complain about anything."

The fact that a superstar, much less an MVP, would say that after being benched against the second best team in the conference is remarkable. It speaks to Rose's character that he sees the bigger picture and didn't whine or complain when things didn't go his way. It's no wonder why the Bulls operate the way they do when their superstar carries himself that way. As the locker room leader that attitude will only influence his teammates in a positive manner.

Chicago's suffocating D is second best in the NBA

Much of the credit must also go to Thibodeau. He has the best bench in the NBA and he is willing to go to those players in any situation. Many times Omer Asik and Taj Gibson will be on the floor in the fourth quarter instead of starters Boozer and Joakim Noah. Other coaches do not use their bench to their full advantage and pay the price. For example, the Heat have used James Jones in just 45 games this season, but he is a more than capable player. Granted, some of those DNP's have been due to injury but Jones is one of the best three point shooters in the league and he is the perfect complement to Wade and James because he stretches the floor. Yet he sees only 11.4 minutes a game in the 45 games he has played in.

Thibodeau also has found a way to make his team play hard every night and be committed to team defense. The Bulls rank first in rebounding and second in points allowed at just 88.9. It's a common sight to see Chicago players diving on the floor for loose balls and sliding over in help side defense, a lost art in the NBA. The Bulls commitment to defense has covered up for their lack of another go-to perimeter scorer and could carry them deep into the playoffs again.

Winning the East will be tough because the Bulls will have to get through the Heat and teams like the Celtics and Pacers are formidable threats. However, a healthy Rose, Rip Hamilton and Luol Deng will work wonders for Chicago as the three have rarely been on the floor at the same time due to injuries. The passion and energy that the Bulls play with is an intangible quality that cannot be measured, yet means so much to their success. With one of the best frontlines in the game, a stingy defense and the best bench in the league the Chicago Bulls are poised to make run for title number seven.

Hoosiers Primed for Final Four Run

The highlight of Christian Watford’s shot over Marquis Teague and Darius Miller this past December will not be forgotten any time soon. Absolute pandemonium struck not only Bloomington, but the entire nation as the once-floundering Indiana Hoosiers took down the nation’s top team in the Kentucky Wildcats. Many players on the Hoosier roster enjoyed individual success with Watford and Cody Zeller leading the way. A lot of questions were asked about what kind of team the Hoosiers would be if Watford and Zeller decided to enter the NBA Draft. Lucky for Indiana fans, they don’t have to worry about that just yet.

           

The two declared this morning that they would return to campus next fall and attempt to bring Indiana back to the Final Four for the first time since 2002. Some people still believe that Indiana will be too young to enjoy that kind of run through the tournament. Last season proved that Tom Crean’s team was struggling to find consistency and was still finding a way to climb back to the top of the Big Ten. Yet with wins over Kentucky and Ohio State, what’s not to love about the team Indiana will have next year?

           

Indiana loses four seniors, the most valuable being Verdell Jones, but will bring back all five of their starters. To join the young roster that Tom Crean can call his own, three top 100 recruits (Yogi Ferrell, Jeremy Hollowell, Hanner Mosquera-Perea) will don the candy cane pants and provide a jumpstart off the bench.

           

With all this talent coming in and returning to Bloomington, it’s hard to see any Big Ten team competing for the regular season title. Not one big man comes to mind that can hang with Zeller the more his game develops. Jared Sullinger, Draymond Green, and Meyers Leonard are all gone which gives Zeller, in my opinion, the title of the best big man in the conference.

On ESPN.com, Andy Katz has the Hoosiers as his preseason number one. I’m not sure if I would go that far just yet. But a top five team? I wouldn’t hesitate to do that. Tom Crean has developed a culture at IU that will not only guarantee success for this coming year, but for the future, too. As you can see from the recruiting class they have coming in, Crean’s ability to recruit is always going to be a strong point in his program. It’s hard for me to say this, being that I’m an Illinois fan, but I don’t see any rhyme or reason why Indiana can’t win the Big Ten and follow that up with a run to Atlanta.