April 06, 2006
Check out this excerpt from a book on clutch hitting in baseball: Is it Ortiz?
If you like the statistical part of the game, it's pretty impressive. I recommend the second chapter that's linked at the bottom of the page as well.
Definitely buying that one.
April 05, 2006
Andy Katz of ESPN.com released his 2006-07 Top 25 today. Granted, he does this every year immediately following the NCAA Championship while a certain team's failures are still fresh in his mind, but I think he made a glaring omission by excluding the Orange.
No, Syracuse isn't a Top-10 team right now while Jimmy B's trying to decide how to fill the void left by #3, but they can't possibly be listed any lower than teams like South Carolina, USC, or Oregon, who are all noted as "Others in Consideration" of Top-25 status.
The Orange are returning 4 quality starters to their lineup, all of whom just played major roles in winning the Big East Tournament and are are all capable of averaging double-digit points next season. Paul Harris figures to be in the starting five by December, if not right away, and could be the Cuse's second pre-season Freshman of the Year in as many years. The only statistical category in which this team figures to get worse is three point shooting, which they should be able to make up for with improved play from Roberts and Watkins.
The starting lineup will include 3 seniors, with each of them using this past year as their "getting to know you" grace period. By the time the 2006-07 season gets underway, all five starters should be much more comfortable with each other than they were in 2005. The problem lies in determining who fills the point guard role, as Harris will eventually be too good to bench in favor of Josh Wright. Boeheim won't start the season with Nichols, Roberts, or Watkins on the bench, unless one of them really loses favor with the coach - he's proven time and again that he feels experience is more important that youthful talent when beginning a new season.
That makes my prospective starting lineup (with possible averages) look like this:
PG: Devo (16 pts, 4 assists)
SG: Harris (14 pts, 5 reb, 5 assists)
SF: Nichols (12 pts, 4 reb)
PF: Roberts (11 pts, 8 reb)
C: Watkins (6 pts, 10 reb, 3 blocks)
and the improved bench as follows:
G: Wright (5 pts, 4 assists)
G/F: McCroskey (4 pts, 5 reb)
F: Gorman (4 pts, 3 reb)
C/F: Onuaku (4 pts, 4 reb)
G/F: Rautins (2 pts, 1 assist)
F: Mike Jones (?)
So what if I've got them scoring 78 pts/game? I think it's possible for them to really step up their interior play, especially with Devendorf and Harris driving to the bucket. The bench will get significant time - I really think that Wright deserves to play as much as possible, even if his PT will suffer from the addition of Harris.
The top teams of the Big East this year are all losing the majority of their players who have made significant contributions. Villanova, Connecticut, and West Virginia are all losing their top 2 playmakers from this past season. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh - like Syracuse - will only lose one starter, allowing Aaron Gray and Antonio Graves to step up and lead them to 1st place. Georgetown will only get better, with Jeff Green and Big Boy Hibbert out-muscling the competition. The conference will still be the best in the country, but there's definitely going to be a little bit of a shakeup at the top.
I'm thinking that Syracuse will have a huge advantage in experience (if not talent) over any other team in the league, even after going to the bench. With the league's 3rd best recruiting class to go with it, this team will win it's share of conference games (especially without playing UConn and Nova twice) To me, if the Orange don't finish at least in 4th place next year, it'll be a disappointment.
Obviously, the experts disagree with me - they don't think the champs are good enough to preview just yet. That's OK, though, because it only gives our team a little more motivation to complete the first 3-peat in Big East history.
No, Syracuse isn't a Top-10 team right now while Jimmy B's trying to decide how to fill the void left by #3, but they can't possibly be listed any lower than teams like South Carolina, USC, or Oregon, who are all noted as "Others in Consideration" of Top-25 status.
The Orange are returning 4 quality starters to their lineup, all of whom just played major roles in winning the Big East Tournament and are are all capable of averaging double-digit points next season. Paul Harris figures to be in the starting five by December, if not right away, and could be the Cuse's second pre-season Freshman of the Year in as many years. The only statistical category in which this team figures to get worse is three point shooting, which they should be able to make up for with improved play from Roberts and Watkins.
The starting lineup will include 3 seniors, with each of them using this past year as their "getting to know you" grace period. By the time the 2006-07 season gets underway, all five starters should be much more comfortable with each other than they were in 2005. The problem lies in determining who fills the point guard role, as Harris will eventually be too good to bench in favor of Josh Wright. Boeheim won't start the season with Nichols, Roberts, or Watkins on the bench, unless one of them really loses favor with the coach - he's proven time and again that he feels experience is more important that youthful talent when beginning a new season.
That makes my prospective starting lineup (with possible averages) look like this:
PG: Devo (16 pts, 4 assists)
SG: Harris (14 pts, 5 reb, 5 assists)
SF: Nichols (12 pts, 4 reb)
PF: Roberts (11 pts, 8 reb)
C: Watkins (6 pts, 10 reb, 3 blocks)
and the improved bench as follows:
G: Wright (5 pts, 4 assists)
G/F: McCroskey (4 pts, 5 reb)
F: Gorman (4 pts, 3 reb)
C/F: Onuaku (4 pts, 4 reb)
G/F: Rautins (2 pts, 1 assist)
F: Mike Jones (?)
So what if I've got them scoring 78 pts/game? I think it's possible for them to really step up their interior play, especially with Devendorf and Harris driving to the bucket. The bench will get significant time - I really think that Wright deserves to play as much as possible, even if his PT will suffer from the addition of Harris.
The top teams of the Big East this year are all losing the majority of their players who have made significant contributions. Villanova, Connecticut, and West Virginia are all losing their top 2 playmakers from this past season. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh - like Syracuse - will only lose one starter, allowing Aaron Gray and Antonio Graves to step up and lead them to 1st place. Georgetown will only get better, with Jeff Green and Big Boy Hibbert out-muscling the competition. The conference will still be the best in the country, but there's definitely going to be a little bit of a shakeup at the top.
I'm thinking that Syracuse will have a huge advantage in experience (if not talent) over any other team in the league, even after going to the bench. With the league's 3rd best recruiting class to go with it, this team will win it's share of conference games (especially without playing UConn and Nova twice) To me, if the Orange don't finish at least in 4th place next year, it'll be a disappointment.
Obviously, the experts disagree with me - they don't think the champs are good enough to preview just yet. That's OK, though, because it only gives our team a little more motivation to complete the first 3-peat in Big East history.
