Big 12 Basketball 2008

[im2kull]

What the heck happened to this team during league play?

Have you seen what the Big 12 is doing in the tournament?  No wonder...

[LenexatoKCMO]

Have you seen what the Big 12 is doing in the tournament?  No wonder...

Nah - they clearly gelled and elevated their game significantly during the start of the conference tournament.  But having your team come together at that point in the season is way, way too late. 

[kcmetro]

It's funny seeing these guys in different uniforms.

[im2kull]

It sure is nice to see the Big 12 take out the Tournys trash two years in a row... 


What a Joke...Not even above .500 out of conference..

[MidWestSider]

Gillispie out
Kentucky has called a news conference to announce the end of the Billy Gillispie coaching era


Back to the Big 12?

[im2kull]

Back to the Big 12?

I would hope not.  He really failed to produce anything when he had the chance, here and in the SEC.  He drove some good Tx AM teams into the ground.  If you ask me he is the epitamy of a coach.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Seeing as dear departed MD/PPA isn't here to post it himself - for all of those Tiger and Wildcat fans who pointed out earlier in the month that the only "true" national COY award is the Henry Iba National COY Award and that all other COY awards are trivial poppycock, the 2009 Henry Iba National was announced earlier in the week:

http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awar ... index.html

[Highlander]

Seeing as dear departed MD/PPA isn't here to post it himself - for all of those Tiger and Wildcat fans who pointed out earlier in the month that the only "true" national COY award is the Henry Iba National COY Award and that all other COY awards are trivial poppycock, the 2009 Henry Iba National was announced earlier in the week:

http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awar ... index.html

Still think it should have been Anderson but at least it goes to the Big XII conference.  We could argue the relative merits of either coach and everyone would be right but I think Anderson has come the furthest (so far) with a more modest collection of talent and with lower expectations from the media. 

[jlbomega]

Seeing as dear departed MD/PPA isn't here to post it himself

Did I miss something?  Did MD finally pick up his ball and go home?

Still think it should have been Anderson but at least it goes to the Big XII conference.  We could argue the relative merits of either coach and everyone would be right but I think Anderson has come the furthest (so far) with a more modest collection of talent and with lower expectations from the media. 

I agree... it should have been Anderson.  This is another award that is voted on too early.  I don't understand why they can't wait until all of the games have been played to vote on these awards.

At this point MU and KU have had virtually the same level of success this year.  What gives Anderson the edge in my opinion is a better non confernece season (KU was pretty bad) and the fact that we were picked 7th in the Big 12 going into the season.  7th place means we were not even supposed to make the NCAA Tournament this year and we are in the Elite 8 plus Big 12 Tournament Champions.  Further, Mizzou has done this in large part with a bunch of guys the KU's of the world wouldn't even extend a scholarship to out of High School.

[im2kull]

Still think it should have been Anderson but at least it goes to the Big XII conference.  We could argue the relative merits of either coach and everyone would be right but I think Anderson has come the furthest (so far) with a more modest collection of talent and with lower expectations from the media. 

At this point I would have to say that it's a fair arguement for Anderson.  A lot of who has done the best this year will be decided in the remaining few games of the tournament.  Either way, awesome win for the big 12...coach wise...

[Highlander]

As it appears now, if Anderson leaves Mizzou, it will not be for the Alabama job.  Alabama has reached an agreement in principle with Grant from VCU.  Donovan has taken his name out of the Kentucky job search and will remain at Florida.  I would doubt if Kentucky would go after Anderson and I don't think Georgia is going to get into a bidding war with Mizzou for a basketball coach.

http://blog.al.com/rapsheet/2009/03/for ... grant.html

Frankly, I think Kentucky blew it by firing Gillespie.  A&M was terrible before he arrived and he turned them into a perennial tournament team. 

[grovester]

glad Self got his title last year, would KU have been tempted to be short-sighted had they not got to the final four?

[im2kull]

A&M was terrible before he arrived and he turned them into a perennial tournament team.   

They really were in the same perennial argument as Memphis though, up untill his last two years.  They always played a bunch of cupcakes out of conference, racked up a lot of wins, and took their shots in conf...to limp into the tournament.  Any coach can do that, if you want my opinion.

[KCMax]

They really were in the same perennial argument as Memphis though, up untill his last two years.  They always played a bunch of cupcakes out of conference, racked up a lot of wins, and took their shots in conf...to limp into the tournament.  Any coach can do that, if you want my opinion.

I think you're selling him awfully short. He took over a team that went winless in conference play, and made them conference contenders. They were worse than Colorado, and became a team that could play with Texas and Kansas. That's pretty impressive.

I wouldn't be totally surprised if him and John Calipari traded jobs.

[bobbyhawks]

I think you're selling him awfully short. He took over a team that went winless in conference play, and made them conference contenders. They were worse than Colorado, and became a team that could play with Texas and Kansas. That's pretty impressive.

I wouldn't be totally surprised if him and John Calipari traded jobs.

I hope he goes to Georgia and takes his recruits with him.  I would love to see him have immediate success there to spite his future SEC rival.

[LenexatoKCMO]

If Calipari goes to Kentucky . . . Anderson to Memphis? 

[jlbomega]

If Calipari goes to Kentucky . . . Anderson to Memphis? 

Someone has already gone to Calipari's wikipedia page and change his current job section to "Memphis for a few more hours... then Kentucky" 

I'm sure Anderson would be high on Memphis' list since he knows the recruiting area so well.  However the only player actually signed on for next year is Xavier Henry.  From this years team Dozier, Taggert, and Evans are all gone.  The fact that Cal would leave Memphis proves that you can only take a program in a non BCS program so far.

While Memphis is a great program moving back to CUSA would be a step backward in my opinion.  Plus Anderson can't recruit the top talent to play in his system according to ESPN 

[WSPanic]

The fact that Cal would leave Memphis proves that you can only take a program in a non BCS program so far.

The only thing this proves is that Cal wants $4 Million/year.

This year proved that you can do just as much with a non-BCS school as you can with a BCS school. Memphis played in a weak, weak conference, didn't play particularly well out of conference and still landed a #2 seed (with strong consideration for a #1). He was within a few seconds of winning it all last year, in the sweet sixteen to follow it up this year and has HUGE class coming in next year.

What exactly couldn't he accomplish at Memphis?

[KCMax]

The fact that Cal would leave Memphis proves that you can only take a program in a non BCS program so far.

2.1 seconds from a national title?

[LenexatoKCMO]

The fact that Cal would leave Memphis proves that you can only take a program in a non BCS program so far.

Two wins closer to a national title than anyone can take Missouri?