I'm on a college basketball kick right now and I thought this idea would make a good post (for those of you who usually come here for stuff on the NBA, I'll be making a post on the Association pretty soon). I stumbled upon this question last year in an SI.com column, and I think it's pretty cool.
If you were to make an ultimate team of college basketball players, and you had to take one player from each class (one frosh, one soph, one junior, one senior, and one of any class), what would your team look like?
Now, there are a few things to remember about this. First of all, sometimes you're going to have to sacrifice a player who you might have otherwise put on because it's more important to get another guy of his class in at a different position. Second, we're not necessarily looking for the 5 most talented players, I don't need 5 guys who average 20+, we're trying to put together the best TEAM.
I came into this with a basic plan of how I wanted the team built. I want players who can play defense, shoot the ball, and who don't turn the ball over much. Having shooters is especially important in college basketball because zones are much more prevalent than in the NBA. You also see a lot more full-court pressure in college, making it more important to have players who can handle the ball without giving it away. Lastly, I wanted, as much as possible, to have 5 good free throw shooters, so as not to have a weak link that could be easily focused on.
Alright, we're going to build from the base up, starting with the best freshman in the land, and probably the most talented player in the nation.
PF - Michael Beasley, Kansas State, Fr He's the nation's 5th leading scorer, he leads the nation in rebounds, he's scored 30+ five times, he's topped 20 rebounds twice, and he's had double digit boards in every game. He does all that while shooting 56% from the field, 71% from the line, and 35% from three-point range. Not only that, but he often looks like he isn't even trying. The game comes so easily to him that there are times when he isn't even using all his tremendous athletic ability and he still dominates. For example, I watched him play against a good Oregon team and he didn't even look particularly athletic, he wasn't facing up from outside, getting out on the break, or dunking over people. What he was doing was winning the position battle every time down the court and either sealing his man and finishing, or ending up with great rebounding position. He finishes through contact as well as anyone in the nation, taking the hit and still finishing with a soft touch. Beasley is dominant when he isn't trying, and he's transcendent when he's giving full effort.
C - Jason Thompson, Rider, Sr The most underrated player in the country, and it isn't close. After being one of only three D1 players to average 20-10 last year (along with Kevin Durant and Nick Fazekas), and he's been even better this year. I've watched him a few times this year, and both times I came away amazed that NBA scouts aren't more excited about this guy. He's got an NBA body, strong post moves, and perimeter skills that few 6-10 guys have. He'll kill you on the blocks, he'll kill you on the glass, and he'll kill you facing up from mid-range. On top of all that, and this was one of the big reasons for his selection, he's one of the nation's premier defenders. He was named to collegeinsider.com's All-Defensive team last year, and he did a great job on Beasley earlier this year, holding him to 13-10 on 5 for 11 shooting. Not only does he block a ton of shots, but he plays great fundamental defense too. For this position, I wanted to get someone who could defend and rebound to complement Beasley, and my first thought was Joey Dorsey. However, Dorsey isn't an offensive force at all, and I just couldn't take the horrific FT%. I also thought about Roy Hibbert, but he isn't the versatile threat that Thompson is and isn't as dominant a rebounder.
PG - D.J. Augustin, Texas, So Now we get to the really tough decisions. There were any number of players that I could've put here, and compelling arguments could be made for all of them. UNC's Ty Lawson, Kansas' Mario Chalmers, MSU's Drew Neitzel, Marquette's Dominic James, and Virginia's Sean Singeletary all made this a difficult choice. In the end, the final decision finally came down to Augustin versus VCU's Eric Maynor (you might remember him from when he dispatched Duke in the tourney last year). Maynor has been brilliant this year, and we know he's clutch after seeing him clinch games down the stretch last year. However, Augustin has to be the pick here. He was underrated last year playing in the shadow of Kevin Durant, and he has been nothing short of brilliant this year in leading a very surprising Texas team to much more early success than was expected of them. He has shown the ability to distribute and manage a game, he's shown the ability to defer to another star player, and he's shown the ability to take over on his own. If you're looking for a point guard, it doesn't get much better than that in my opinion.
SF - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis, Jr When looking for a junior to fill the G/F spot, there are really only 2 choices, CDR and Kansas' Brandon Rush. Now, while Rush is a fantastic player, he is starting slowly after an offseason injury, and he just isn't in the same class as Douglas-Roberts. CDR is the driving force for the country's best team on both ends of the court, and he has really stepped his game up this year. He's one of the premier slashers in the nation, getting to the rim seemingly at will, and he can finish with either hand, as well as having a very good floater in the lane. Defensively, he's one of the best lockdown perimeter defenders out there. He doesn't rack up a lot of steals or blocks, so it doesn't show up in the box score, but his strength and defensive fundamentals make him a really tough matchup.
SG - Shan Foster, Vanderbilt, Sr I really wanted to put Washington State's Kyle Weaver here, but he and Douglas-Roberts are just too similar, and neither are very proficient shooters. Foster, on the other hand, does not have that problem. He may be one-dimensional, but what a dimension it is. Foster was a good shooter last year, but he's been absolutely unconscious this year. He's shooting a blistering 51% from behind the three-point arc, and has easily been college basketball's best shooter this season. He runs off screens really well, and he has a high, behind-the-head type release that makes his shot very tough to contest. It was a tough choice between Foster and Davidson's Stephen Curry, but Foster has just been too good. He may not bring a whole lot else to the table, but you can be sure nobody is going to try and throw a zone at this team with Foster out there. Coach - Tom Izzo, Michigan State With all due respect to the wonderful jobs that Mike Krzyewski (Duke), Tony Bennett (Washington State), Sean Miller (Xavier) and Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) are doing, Izzo's coaching this year has been nothing short of brilliant. I watched his Michigan State team put on an absolute clinic against my beloved Wolfpack, running them out of the gym with brilliant off-the-ball screens and near-perfect execution to get wide open shot after wide open shot. He has seamlessly integrated an infusion of younger talent with his older, veteran guys and has really gotten the most out of his players. He's been a coaching icon for years now, but this season has been some of his best work.
There you go, let me know what you think about my picks. Remember, it's ok to disagree with me as long as you don't mind being wrong.
I'm convinced that there are very few things in the basketball world more depressing than being an N.C. State basketball fan. For the uninitiated, let me give some background. State's history includes the man who basically started the ACC (Everett Case), one of the 5 greatest college basketball players of all time (David Thompson), 2 of the most iconic NCAA championships ever (Thompson's '74 team ending UCLA's run and the '83 Cardiac Pack), the first player ever to tally 1000 career assists (Chris Corchiani) ,and one of the most famous personalities in the history of college athletics (Jim Valvano). Thompson and teammate Monte Towe basically invented the alley-oop while at State, and the strategy of fouling at the end of close games was popularized largely by Valvano (who used it to great effect in the miracle run of '83). Up through the 80s, the Wolfpack were a perennial ACC contender and a national power. The original Tobacco Road rivalry was, in fact, not Duke and UNC, it was State and Carolina. However, my beloved Wolfpack have fallen on hard times since Valvano left the program. A once proud program has ranged from awful to mediocre over the last 15 years, we've watched our rivals dismiss us and our athletic department apparently be happy with an occasional appearance in the top 25. Now, you're probably thinking "a lot of teams would be happy with a few top 25 appearances, what's this guy whining about?" Well, most teams don't have the history State has, and most teams also don't play in the shadow of two colossi of the college basketball world, Duke and UNC. Why am I bringing all this up? Well, this year I thought would be the year. The Wolfpack returned all but one starter from a team that had finished on a great run last year, almost winning the ACC tournament and making a run deep into the NIT. Not only that, but we added stud recruit J.J. Hickson (the best recruit the Pack have brought in in decades) to a roster already loaded with talent. New coach Sidney Lowe (the point guard for the '83 title team) had done a fantastic job last year managing a team that was picked to be last in the ACC and really only had 6 players for most of the year. This was going to be our year, how could things possibly go wrong? Well, I should've known better, as a State fan, something can ALWAYS go wrong. Through 13 games this year, a team that has every reason in the world to be hungry has looked complacent, and the result is that they've lost to New Orleans and ECU, gotten absolutely embarrassed by Michigan State on national TV (the worst basketball game I've ever seen a team play, and that's saying something), and trailed at the half to both Presbyterian College and Western Carolina (a combined 5-28 record). I've lost faith in this team, and we haven't even played a conference game yet. I'm fully expecting to see us get beat by 40 at UNC to open the ACC season, and we'll probably be NIT-bound again this season. Oh well, there's always that old fallback that State fans have been using for the last decade, "We'll be better next year." (I promise, we will be).
Other College Basketball Thoughts
- One thing that constantly irritates me when I listen to and read college basketball analysts is the idea that Tyler Hansbrough is the leading candidate for national player of the year. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the way Hansbrough plays. He's a self-made player, not exceptionally gifted but works harder than almost anyone, and he's the kind of guy who I'd love if he didn't play for the Tarheels. I wouldn't have any problem with Psycho T if he weren't a media darling, but the fact is that he's the single most overrated player in America. I fail to see how you can name a player the national player of the year if he is the third most important player on his own team. Make no mistake, other elite teams are FAR more scared about Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington than they are about Hansbrough. His game is based entirely on effort, he doesn't have great post moves (no matter what the talking heads may try to tell you) and he isn't a very good athlete. As a result, Psycho T struggles against high-level teams that have athletic big men. Point in case, against UNC's 4 toughest opponents so far (Davidson, Ohio State, Kentucky, Clemson), he has averaged 13.25 PPG on 35% shooting. Hansbough's 22 PPG average looks gaudy, but he's done most of his work against inferior competition and he plays on one of the nation's highest-scoring teams. He's also not a good defensive player outside of his ability to rebound the ball. I've read several analysts saying that Deon Thompson and Alex Stephenson need to step up their interior defense to give Hansbrough some help, but the fact is that he just isn't a very good defensive player. Again, don't get me wrong here, Hansbrough is a very good college player, and I respect how hard he works, but there's no way he should be leading any player of the year discussion.
- For those of you who haven't seen them yet this year, Davidson is legit. I'd be shocked if they don't win some games in the tournament. Stephen Curry is absolutely an NBA player sometime down the read, as a sophomore he already has a great understanding of how to use screens both off the ball and off the dribble, and he has one of the quickest releases I've ever seen.
- A lot of teams are going to pass on D.J. White in the next draft, and I think they're going to regret it. He absolutely dominated a good Georgia Tech frontline, and he's already got the versatile game to be effective as an undersized PF. I'm just gonna go ahead and commend the team that picks White in the second round right now.
- Speaking of Indiana, Eric Gordon is all kinds of good. Right now, I'd take him over almost any player in the nation. He can get his shot off against anyone, but he's also really strong going to the rim. He's got that extra gear in the open court, and you're not stopping him once he gets his shoulders past you. I've watched Gordon, Rose and Mayo this year, and Gordon was by far the most impressive of the three. With Gordon and White, along with underrated freshman Jordan Crawford, the Hoosiers are a team that could have a legit shot at making a run deep in the tourney.
- Can someone please tell me how Memphis isn't the number 1 team in the nation? They've played at Oklahoma, at UCONN, USC on a neutral court, Georgetown (the most impressive win of the season by any team), and Arizona and they're 13-0. Seriously, it's ridiculous that they aren't the unanimous number 1 right now. I know it might seem like I'm knocking on UNC right now, but that's not it. I don't know if Memphis will end up being the nation's best team, but there is absolutely no arguing that they have played a MUCH harder schedule than the Tarheels right now, and have a lot more impressive wins.
- Not really a college basketball thought, but more a thought about basketball in general. One of the things that really irritates me is that officials don't ever call the switching pivot foot anymore. Footwork on the catch has become almost inconsequential, because players are allowed to slide and switch their pivot foot with impunity. This video really stood out for me lately as a particularly egregious no-call (at about the halfway mark, watch where Pierce's left foot starts and where it is before he takes his first dribble). Course, that reminded me of this classic video.
c, he wasn't facing up from outside, getting out on the break, or dunking over people. What he was doing was winning the position battle every time down the court and either sealing his man and finishing, or ending up with great rebounding position. He finishes through contact as well as anyone in the nation, taking the hit and still finishing with a soft touch. Beasley is dominant when he isn't trying, and he's transcendent when he's giving full effort.
ia's Sean Singeletary all made this a difficult choice. In the end, the final decision finally came down to Augustin versus VCU's Eric Maynor (you might remember him from when he dispatched Duke in the tourney last year). Maynor has been brilliant this year, and we know he's clutch after seeing him clinch games down the stretch last year. However, Augustin has to be the pick here. He was underrated last year playing in the shadow of Kevin Durant, and he has been nothing short of brilliant this year in leading a very surprising Texas team to much more early success than was expected of them. He has shown the ability to distribute and manage a game, he's shown the ability to defer to another star player, and he's shown the ability to take over on his own. If you're looking for a point guard, it doesn't get much better than that in my opinion. 
. Foster was a good shooter last year, but he's been absolutely unconscious this year. He's shooting a blistering 51% from behind the three-point arc, and has easily been college basketball's best shooter this season. He runs off screens really well, and he has a high, behind-the-head type release that makes his shot very tough to contest. It was a tough choice between Foster and Davidson's Stephen Curry, but Foster has just been too good. He may not bring a whole lot else to the table, but you can be sure nobody is going to try and throw a zone at this team with Foster out there.
ionships ever (Thompson's '74 team ending UCLA's run and the '83 Cardiac Pack), the first player ever to tally 1000 career assists (Chris Corchiani) ,and one of the most famous personalities in the history of college athletics (Jim Valvano). Thompson and teammate Monte Towe basically invented the alley-oop while at State, and the strategy of fouling at the end of close games was popularized largely by Valvano (who used it to great effect in the miracle run of '83). Up through the 80s, the Wolfpack were a perennial ACC contender and a national power. The original Tobacco Road rivalry was, in fact, not Duke and UNC, it was State and Carolina. However, my beloved Wolfpack have fallen on hard times since Valvano left the program. A once proud program has ranged from awful to mediocre over the last 15 years, we've watched our rivals dismiss us and our athletic department apparently be happy with an occasional appearance in the top 25. Now, you're probably thinking "a lot of teams would be happy with a few top 25 appearances, what's this guy whining about?" Well, most teams don't have the history State has, and most teams also don't play in the shadow of two colossi of the college basketball world, Duke and UNC. Why am I bringing all this up? Well, this year I thought would be the year. The Wolfpack returned all but one starter from a team that had finished on a great run last year, almost winning the ACC tournament and making a run deep into the NIT. Not only that, but we added stud recruit J.J. Hickson (the best recruit the Pack have brought in in decades) to a roster already loaded with talent. New coach Sidney Lowe (the point guard for the '83 title team) had done a fantastic job last year managing a team that was picked to be last in the ACC and really only had 6 players for most of the year. This was going to be our year, how could things possibly go wrong? Well, I should've known better, as a State fan, something can ALWAYS go wrong. Through 13 games this year, a team that has every reason in the world to be hungry has looked complacent, and the result is that they've lost to New Orleans and ECU, gotten absolutely embarrassed by Michigan State on national TV (the worst basketball game I've ever seen a team play, and that's saying something), and trailed at the half to both Presbyterian College and Western Carolina (a combined 5-28 record). I've lost faith in this team, and we haven't even played a conference game yet. I'm fully expecting to see us get beat by 40 at UNC to open the ACC season, and we'll probably be NIT-bound again this season. Oh well, there's always that old fallback that State fans have been using for the last decade, "We'll be better next year." (I promise, we will be). 
re FAR more scared about Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington than they are about Hansbrough. His game is based entirely on effort, he doesn't have great post moves (no matter what the talking heads may try to tell you) and he isn't a very good athlete. As a result, Psycho T struggles against high-level teams that have athletic big men. Point in case, against UNC's 4 toughest opponents so far (Davidson, Ohio State, Kentucky, Clemson), he has averaged 13.25 PPG on 35% shooting. Hansbough's 22 PPG average looks gaudy, but he's done most of his work against inferior competition and he plays on one of the nation's highest-scoring teams. He's also not a good defensive player outside of his ability to rebound the ball. I've read several analysts saying that Deon Thompson and Alex Stephenson need to step up their interior defense to give Hansbrough some help, but the fact is that he just isn't a very good defensive player. Again, don't get me wrong here, Hansbrough is a very good college player, and I respect how hard he works, but there's no way he should be leading any player of the year discussion.
es I've ever seen. 
er 1 right now. I know it might seem like I'm knocking on UNC right now, but that's not it. I don't know if Memphis will end up being the nation's best team, but there is absolutely no arguing that they have played a MUCH harder schedule than the Tarheels right now, and have a lot more impressive wins.
