Well well well!!! Another year of Madness!!! What started out as an email to cover for Insanity Report creator, Kevin “The Original POC” Outhet when he went on an overseas trip has evolved into the 11th Year of the Insanity Report!!!! A single email has turned into an Insanity Report Staff and Official Asylum in the Lamplighter Pub. The Report will continue to grow…..it’s January 18th right now and come Thursday March 18th, exactly 2 months from now, the Insanity Report will be in full tilt for this year’s March Madness leading to the road to Indianapolis!!!!!
Lets get into it, the All-Adolph Top 10 Teams:
#1 VILLANOVA WILDCATS
The Good: The deepest team in the nation, bar none. They rotate 6 super-talented guards and 5 solid, yet young forwards. Sr. G, Scottie Reynolds touches the ball in every possession of the game it seems like, in a complete non-Kobe way. They have the necessary size to get through the Big East trenches in the Post.
The Bad: Not much to say here. The Insanity Report Staff agree that Villanova are the current odds on favorite to win it all in March. If anything, their big men are young, but they aren’t needed to carry games like the UConn’s or Georgetown’s big men of the Big East.
The Wildcat Verdict: Stay hot Reynolds, and keep developing Wildcat Forwards! So far so good with a 5-0 start in Big East play, bar none the toughest conference in D-1. Last year’s Final 4 run may have been a surprise, but this year’s Final 4 run will be disappointing if it doesn’t end with a National Championship.
#2 KENTUCKY WILDCATS
The Good: Fr. G John Wall!!! ‘Nuff said. Hands down the best player in College Basketball this year. The odds on favorite for 2010 All-Adolph Player of the Year. Also, Fr. F DeMarcus Cousins will join his one-and-done brethren, Wall into Divison II Basketball next year, the NBA. The glue for Kentucky are players, Fr. PG Eric Bledsoe and Jr. F Patrick Patterson. Take a look at their solid statistics, and then watch a Kentucky game; Those 2 players get the job done in a very under-stated but effective way. Kentucky is so scary with 2 amazing point guards at the helm in Wall and Bledsoe.
The Bad: Like all teams this year in Div I, Kentucky can struggle with consistency for a half. As good as Kentucky is this year, they are a brand new team with no Madness experience. They will get great tests in a deep but non-dominant SEC Conference schedule. Their youth will show cold nights from down town and bouts of bad decisions and turnovers.
The Wildcat Verdict: They have the talent to win the Madness, but must attain the experience and know-how quickly to get through the tourney.
#3 TEXAS LONGHORNS
The Good: The Hook ‘Em Horns have experience from their ’08 Elite 8 run when Kevin Durant had his cup of coffee in Austin. Sr. F Damion James has taken the lead from that young class with career rebounding records, and he’s the go-to guy for Head Coach, Rick Barnes. #1 Nationally Ranked Freshman, SG Avery Bradley has fulfilled all expectations by entering his Texas career displaying defensive poise to go with his electric offensive talent. His D contributes to one of the most suffocating half-court defenses in years and one of the deepest benches in the nation ala Villanova which will negate a lot of off-nights by any one of the main Longhorn players, such as…..see below.
The Bad: Jr. PG, Dogus Balbay is bogus (Bah-dum bum-chuh!!). He’s a solid PG; He spreads the ball well and runs a great half-court O. But, he’s a turnover liability if he decides he wants to drive to the hoop regularly,which is often. Sr. C, Dexter Pittman needs all the capable help from Jr. C, Clint Chapman this year, as his 300lb frame may be huffing-n-puffing late in games. Right now, it’s tough to see either Balbay or Pittman offer 40 quality minutes in a meaningful game. Also, Texas can’t hit Free Throws.
The Longhorn Verdict: They’re riding the momentum of attaining their first #1 AP Poll ranking in school history, but that was slowed down tonight at K-State. K-State found a way to out-big Texas’ big men. Get ready for Monday February 8th when Kansas comes to Austin to play Texas in the Pre-March Madness Game of the Year!!! Tip-off is at 6:00 PM which, with enough takers, could be seen at the Lamplighter for a Monday night special. Yeah?
#4 KANSAS JAYHAWKS
The Good: The best point guard in D-1 in Sr. Sherron Collins. Kentucky’s John Wall is a more supreme talent, but Collins has a National Title under his belt and runs the offense and defense with the leadership reminiscent of a young Alex Betts. Speaking of John Walls, if it wasn’t for Walls, then Fr. G Xavier Henry would get more national attention as froshie of the year.
The Bad: Jr. C Cole Aldrich. OH-VER RATE-EDD
The Jayhawk Verdict: 2 outta their last 3 games have been questionable, where they squeak by a friggin’ Ivy League Cornell and lose to Tennessee when the Vols have only 6 scholarship players dressed. They got back on track with a shalacking of Texas Tech last game, so let’s see if the Jayhawks will get back on the Final 4 track. If they do, their run will be due to All-X-Factor player, Soph. F Marcus Morris. Morris is a 5-tool baller. He can slash-n-dash, shoot, pass, defend and do what needs to be done in the clutch. He’s big time.
#5 SYRACUSE ORANGEMEN
The Good: Typical Jim Boeheim size in his patented 2-3 zone. Jr. F Wesley Johnson has come out of nowhere from the year he sat out transferring from Iowa State to become an early favorite for Big East Player of the Year. Jr. F Rick Jackson, Soph. F Kris Joseph and Sr. F/C Arinze Onuaku complete the nasty reach and lbs. at the bottom half of the 2-3. The Orangemen also have a trio of spark plug guards in Sr. G Andy Rautins, and freshmen Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine.
The Bad: Like Villanova, there isn’t much to say here, but the ‘Cuse have yet to face the bulk of their Big East sked with home-n-home’s vs. Georgetown and Louisville and home games vs. Villanova and UConn.
The Verdict: Is still out, as stated above.
#6 DUKE BLUE DEVILS
The Good: The only good is Coach K. It hurts to put Duke so high, but what seemed like Coach Sha-had-no-more-guards-left-skee in the pre-season, is now a great trio in Sr. PG Jon Scheyer, Jr. SG Nolan Smith and Fr. G Andre Dawkins. Bottom line is Coach K gets the absolute most out of his players. Talent wise, all 3 guards would be role players in the above teams at best, but not under Coach K. Soph. F Miles Plumlee is a super talent, and he is developing into a game changing player, one that may have to carry Duke if they can make it to the Final 4, because it might not be from Kyle Singler (see below).
The Bad: Sr. C Brian Zoubek, can hardly walk and chew gum at the same time. Jr. F Kyle Singler is another great talent, but even as a junior he still struggles with consistency. Many slow starts in many games will be negated with strong finishes for Singler, but come tourney games, how can he get on a 4-6 game roll for a deep run?
The Blue Devil Verdict: Early games show Duke as the favorite to come out of the ACC. Right now, Duke is on fire, but they still ride that fine line between a great Final 4 team and a solid Sweet 16 team. Time will tell. Their lack of depth will have to pull heavy minutes.
#7 MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
The Good: Every returning player from last year’s National Runner-up Team. To tell you the truth, the Insanity Report Staff has not watched many Spartan games this year, but they are still led by Big Ten Player of the Year, Jr. G Kalin Lucas
The Bad: As much as the Insanity Staff respects this year’s Spartan team, they don’t have the typical monster rebounding forwards that Head Coach, Tom Izzo loves to recruit. So far, they still rebound well, and have replaced more athletic forwards for the slower rebound-first forwards of year’s past.
The Spartan Verdict: The final verdict will be seen in March, as they have ALL the necessary ingredients to make another National Championship run, but will face light tests in Big Ten play this season as opposed to the gauntlets of the Big East, Big 12, SEC and ACC. Their non-conference schedule bodes a 1-3 record vs. big schools with a W vs. Gonzaga and losses to Texas, UNC, and Florida. The Spartans have improved since those 4 games, so the verdict is still out.
#8 PITTSBURGH PANTHERS
The Good: Again, baahhh, I haven’t watched many Pitt games (my bad), but they seem to be overachieving with their 5-0 start in Big East play. But W’s in 3 straight road games at Syracuse, Cincinnati and UConn is nothing to fret over. Looking at their stats, they are getting big minutes from players that received little minutes last year. This is a testament to Head Coach, Jamie Dixon’s coaching.
The Bad: Lack of experience. They did still lose a lot from the graduation of key players in last year’s Elite 8 run.
The Panther’s Verdict: Still out. Need to watch more Pitt games.
#9 GONZAGA BULLDOGS
The Good: A deep, versatile and young team. Mark Few has built a doozy here, and with 4 Canadians on the roster has made this year’s Bulldog’s, The Can-zaga Bulldogs!!! The Zag’s are led by Jr. SG Matt Bouldin who is a willing leader and he willingly takes the big shots late in games. The surprise of the year is in Can-zaga’s 6th man, Fr. G, 6 foot 11 inch Kelly Olynyk from Kamloops, BC. He’s listed as a guard/forward, but he is mainly a guard, and at 6-11 this has and will pose a huge match-up problem for all teams. Olynyk, has slowed down a tiny bit from his non-conference run, but he shows incredible basketball IQ on both sides of the court, especially on the help-side defense.
The Bad: Soph. F Robert Sacre has developed in a solid post, but he is foul-proned and appears soft later in games. Canzaga are young, and their weakness this year will only become their strength when they gain the needed experience from this year’s March Madness, just as they gained valuable big stage experience from their ass-whoopin’ from Duke at Madison Square Gardens in December. That’ll only help them when they hit the neutral courts of the WCC Tourney Games and the Madness.
The Verdict: If they keep going the way they do, and by that, meaning Soph. PG Demitri Goodson, works the ball around in the half court and stops turning the ball over in full court breaks, then the Zags are poised to head deep into the Madness. With the demise of the Pac-10 (not one in either Top 25 Pool), Canzaga may very well be the best team on the whole West Coast, let alone the the West Coast Conference.
#10 PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
The Good: Super Trio in Jr’s F Robbie Hummel, F JaJuan Johnson and G E’Twaun Moore.
The Bad: Their current 3 game losing streak in the Big Ten. Hopefully they end it tonight @ Illinois in the Lamplighter Game of the Week at 6 PM.
The Boilermaker Verdict: They better make their big run for these next couple of seasons. With the current downfall of the Indiana Hoosiers the past 2 years, this has made Purdue a recruiting powerhouse in the Mecca of basketball, Indiana. Once Indiana Head Coach, Tom Crean gets the Hoosier’s back on track ala a young Norman Dale, then Purdue will again be in tough for the Indiana high school talent. So Purdue, drop the losing streak and get to work!!
I assume by now you are revisiting your KU ranking, but we'll forgive you...for now.
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