MOD: Can you change title to "Pluv's NCAA Hoops top 5 overrated,underrated and under the radar teams...

thanks


Hey all,

thank god NCAA hoops is right around the corner. with the college fans right on the court the atmosphere of some games are unmatched by any other sport imo. Outside of Kentucky, the parity of talent is at an all time high in college basketball. Butler and VCU to the A 10 will make that one of the most exciting conferences in basketball. Anyway....lets get started with some underrated, overrated and under the radar teams.



TOP 5 OVERRATED TEAMS

1. DUKE: Yes, they will have a solid frontcourt and Seth Curry to light it up from 3. But, they not only lose Austin Rivers...but, they also lose Andre Dawkins who is sitting out the year grieving the loss of his sister (even though she died 3 years ago, he still has a really tough time, hang in there bud). With Dawkins they had more than one guy to draw attention to the perimeter and are a top 10-15 team. Without him they will still be solid with Plumlee and Kelly in the middle but wont be a major threat to go deep in the dance. Rasheed Sulaimon is a quality freshmen guard but he is no Rivers. 20-25 wins, 3rd in ACC and one win in tourney imo.

2: KANSAS: I will fully admit that i was wrong about Bill Self. I used to think he was a solid coach with good recruiting skills. Now, i think he is a very good coach who develops players well. His coaching last year was among the best in the nation. Having said that....i fully expect them to take a step back this year. New guys will step up but they wont replace the losses of the Robinson and Taylor. Look for Johnson, Releford and Withey to all have big years as seniors and keep Kansas at the 25 win plateau. They will probably even win a down big 12 again. They just wont be as lethal come tourney time imo. 25 wins but no sweet 16 appearance.

3. UCLA: This is assuming both Shabazz and Anderson become eligible. W/O them i dont think anyone thinks they are a top 20 team. With them people are putting them in the top 10 and this is only because of the UCLA name. If the unis said Arizona State or Northwestern than no one would even consider this a top 10 or 15 team. Josh Smith is still fat and most likely will always be fat. He is from Seattle so i want to cheer for him...but the dude obviousely has an addiction problem with food and its ruining his career. Shabazz reminds me of a left handed OJ Mayo...exciting, explosive and frustrating at the same time. Anderson will be the better player in the long run...he is a 6' 8" point guard you know. The wear twins are the only consistent things at UCLA right now. It would not suprise me to see UCLA implode and struggle to reach the tourney. 20 wins, 3rd in pac ten and a first round exit.

4. MISSOURI: I really dont want to go into too much detail on this. I have little faith in haith :) . This team is full of talented transfers. They fit a similar bill to that of Iowa State last year. They have more talent but dont have the true stud ala Royce White. 20-22 wins and a first round exit imo. This sweet 16 and top 15 talk is phooey. Missouri had 78 seniors last year who had all played together for years....and were talented to boot. They are gone and so are Missouris chances of a great season.

5. LOIUSVILLE: Ok....Peyton Siva is another Seattle bred player. He has got heart, athleticism and some great passing skills. Luke Hancock arrives from George Mason and i believe Wayne Blackshear will have a solid season. Pitino can obviousely coach better than he can recruit as well. I just think there will be too many nuthuggers who base this years results solely on the last 10 games of the season when they got hot. They will have a better regular season than last year and might win a couple games in the tourney. But the talk of a final four run and a National championship is premature imo. Think sweet 16 Louisville fans...cause that will make it easier when you dont make the final four.



TOP 5 UNDERRATED TEAMS

1. MIAMI: Jim Larranaga can coach...that was proven by his success at George Mason. Reggie Johnson needs to perform much like he did a few years ago for Miami to make a run in the Dance. Regardless they will be a good team who can win 20-25 games. Durand Scott return and will provide toughness and scoring. I expect to see a significant improvement from Shane Larking his sophomore year. All in all...Miami should teeter in and out of the top 25 all year and could sneak a game or two in the tourney.

2. ST. JOES: Ok...Phil Martelli finally has upperclassmen to lead the way. Langston Galloway and Carl Jones are one of the ten best backcourts in the nation. CJ Aiken and Ronald Roberts hold down the inside respectibaly. These 4 are all juniors and all averaged 11 points or more last year as sophomores. Depth is a concern but if they can stay healthy i expect them to get back to the dance. 25 wins, 3rd in the A 10 and one win in the dance. Next year they could go deep.

3. ILLINOIS: They return possibly the best backcourt in the Big 10. Groce was a guards coach at Ohio U and i fully expect Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson to have huge senior years. They will struggle up front but Meyers Leonard was a softy anyhow. If Egwu can be a servicable big men than i expect the Illini to win 20 plus games and get back to the dance.

4. PENN ST: Now i might be going out on a limb here....i do love backcourts tho...and Penn State(much like Illinios) has an excellent one. Tim Frazier might be the best guard in the Big 10. He had a capable running mate in Jermaine Marshall as well. Everytime i watch Frazier i think to myself....what a fn college stud. He is a little short for the NBA but he in the meantime he will tear shit up this year. Averaged 19, 5 and 6 last year. I am not going to lie...i really dont know much about their frontcourt so this might be way off base. I expect 18-20 wins and a post season visit. Much improved from last year.

5. NORTHERN IOWA: Cue the backcourt bandwagon. People are nuthugging Creighton and rightfully so....but dont be suprised to see N. Iowa slip into 2nd place this year in the Missouri Valley. This is due to...yes, you guessed it....a talented backcourt. Anthony James is solid as can be...but its sophomore Deon Mitchell who has the most upside. The two little black guards surrounded by big white forwards will be tough to handle this year. Look for Jake Koch to have a breakout senior year to provide the frontcourt stability. Ben Jacobsen is one of the best mid major coaches around and will get the most out of this bunch. 23-25 wins and a visit to the dance.



TOP 5 UNDER THE RADAR TEAMS

1. MONTANA: Zip...that sound was Will Cherry zooming by you to the hoop. Him and Kareem Jamar will shine and you wont want to face this team come tourney time. Fuck i love backcourts

2. GREEN BAY: Onto frontcourts...Alec Brown is a monster in the Horizon. He single handidly wins games. Combine that with kiefer sykes on the perimiter and they might win the Horizon.

3. NORTH TEXAS: Tony Mitchell will single handidly keep them in nearly every game. Without him they are a .500 team...with him they might win 25 games. He will be a 1st round pick.

4. SOUTH DAKOTA ST: See above...except he is a guard. Oh yeah...Nate Wolters is his name.

5. DENVER: Ok...my favorite of the bunch. Chris Udofia blocks shots like a 7'3" dude..but he is 6' 6"....Royce O'Neal brings athleticism and Chase Hallam stability. I have followed this team pretty closely for 3 years and they might win the WAC this year. Next year they might win a game or two in the dance.



MEANDERINGS............


- The absolute worst hiring of the college football season was Charlie Weis. Not only is he an asshole but a shitty head coach to boot.

- Seriousely....women's hoops...in fact nearly all womens sports are fucking unbearable to watch.

- Jabari Parker will pick between Mich State, Duke, and BYU when its all said and done. Michigan State will win in the end cause his dad dont like to fly

- The NBA should really drop the 19 year old age limit. Either make it 20 years old or right out of high school. Some freshmen dont even have to attend class after the first semester.

- Over 400 Division 1 transfers this year. WTF? Its a problem...but so are coaches moving around. If they can do it than let the players. Overpromising comes to mind.

- I remember this vividly and it still gives me tears....

this post is funny on so many levels.

Just opposite of football, the B1G is going to be realllly strong.

 

Originally Posted by killingbird

this post is funny on so many levels.

meh...i shouldnt of undone my block on you for this post. good insight tho

Ben Mclemore

I think Illinois could go either way tbh

I am interested in seeing what happens with them. They are def going to have some issues inside. Hopefully the 5th year transfer whose name I cant remember right now will step up for them.

SDSU Final Four this year.

 

Originally Posted by XXEDPXX

From what I have read Anrio has a chance to play this year because outside of Naadir Tharpe he is the only guy capable of running the point the way Self wants. Johnson and Mclemore are more off the ball type players. Johnson is a capable point but better as a 2. Self isn't really big on Tharpe from what I hear and Adams has a good shot to step in and play a role as a freshman. I really didn't expect him to do much this year. I don't really know though. Sometimes you see these articles and it feels like everybody is going to get playing time based off what you're reading.

honestly its all about his attitude and commitment.

He was a top 30 recruit as a junior but got lowered to anywhere between 50 and 100 his senior year mostly because of off the court issues.

If his head is on str8 than i believe KU got a player who can make a big impact. Whether its this year or not is yet to be determined.

POTY

Really hope Parker picks MSU, looks like a stud on top of being a really good kid and they don't have a 2013 recruit yet.

Disagree on PSU, I think they are going to be pretty bad this year. Looking around the big ten there are a lot of good teams, they have to be in bottom 3-4.

MSU either gels early and hangs around the top 5 all year or they probably wont be ranked until late in big ten season, that schedule is downright brutal with Uconn, Kansas, Miami and Texas.

PSU homer here. Tim Frazier absolutely carried the team last year and is one of the best players in the conference, but he will need more help for the team to take the next step. They also have an incoming transfer at guard named D.J. Newbill that has been getting a lot of buzz, and coach Pat Chambers has said in the media he believes it will be best backcourt in the country. That's obviously an overstatement, but it should be an exciting unit to watch. There are some other young players that should improve this year, but it will be tough to make that big of a jump in W-L record with how tough the conference projects to be.

So you live in the pac NW and youre handicapping North Texas, Green Bay, Northern Iowa and South Dakota States basketball teams? In october? Weird.

Tons of hype for Jahii Carson here. Is he really that good?

 

Originally Posted by watson5j

I do not see Tennessee on your under the radar or underrated teams...therefore your list is invalid.

Hopefully Quinton Chievous will contribute. I covered him a ton in high school and he was a nice player, a little undersized but well see. His dad is Mizzous all-time leading scorer but Quinton didn't start playing organized ball until high school. Lots of raw talent.

 

Originally Posted by truesyalose

UCLA is my pick to win the title if the freshman are eligible. They are built a little like last year's UK team, a couple of stud freshman to go with some decent returning players.. I found it at 20-1 and that is an outright steal if those 2 freshman play..

And I am a huge louisville hater but they are gonna be for real this year. Chane Behanan and Dieng are their best 2 players and should be all Big East first teamers and you didn't even mention them. College bb should be way down this year and the Big East especially so I don't see Louisville out of the top 10 all year..

I think UK will struggle. Absolutely no depth and Wiltjer looked horrible as anything but a spot up shooter last year. If he improves on D maybe the Cats can make a run but w/o that UK will probably bow out around the sweet 16 and hopefully either Poythress or Goodwin come back for soph year and then UK has a repeat of last year in 2014.

I believe you are severly overrating their players. The freshman are good,...but not Anthony Davis good and any team relying on freshmen usually runs into trouble in the dance (UK last year was an anomaly). The Wear twins are servicable. Outside of that they have very little. Howland has struggled to mesh any kind of talent the last 3-4 years. Its as simple as this. If Josh Smith is in good shape by the end of the year (which he wont be). Than they can make a run in the tourney. UCLA final 4 hopes live and die with him. W/O him they will be a 7-11 seed regardless of the freshmen.

 

Originally Posted by SaulGood

So you live in the pac NW and youre handicapping North Texas, Green Bay, Northern Iowa and South Dakota States basketball teams? In october? Weird.

I watch all the games i can..even those late night ones on all the fox or cbs channels. I read plenty of magazines and scour all the forums. Like i said i am a college hoops junkie...i enjoy doing it.

 

Originally Posted by dolphin13

Hopefully Quinton Chievous will contribute. I covered him a ton in high school and he was a nice player, a little undersized but well see. His dad is Mizzous all-time leading scorer but Quinton didn't start playing organized ball until high school. Lots of raw talent.

Cuonzo Martin and Tennessee suprised us all last year. Thats why i dont put them in my underrated teams this year. I think everyone respects them now and most projections have them in the NCAAs.