The Crazy 8

I realized something while I was watching the Sweet 16 games.  In the first of the 8 games I predicted that Miami would basically run all over Marquette and that the absence of Reggie Johnson would not hurt Miami's chances during the game.  Well pretty much everything I said was completely wrong.  Marquette got an early lead on the Hurricanes and never looked back.  Then it hit me, not only did I get my pick wrong, but I made that prediction on a blog for everyone to see.  I realize that making an incorrect pick is very common in the sports world, especially during March Madness, but I decided that I would make different kinds of picks for the Elite 8 (I did get 5 of the 8 games right, which isn't too bad, but ya know).
So instead of posting my picks for the Elite 8, I am going to make a few other predictions related to the games but not about the final outcome.  Since there are 4 games, lets do 4 picks for the elite 8.

1) At least two players will receive flagrant fouls for elbows to the face.
This has probably been one of the most annoying things about this tournament so far.  Every time that punch to McGary's junk.  The game is being delayed too much by the officials, so I predict it will happen at least twice in these next 4 games.  On a side note, I also predict I will need to buy a new TV as I throw my head through the one I currently have after the refs stop the game again for another stupid reason.
someone swings an elbow near the face of the other team (intentional or or not), the referees take what seems like 15 minutes to review the play on the 27 inch TV screen.  This has happened over and over again and sometimes a flagrant is deserved, but most times a player is being doubled and while trying to free himself from the defense he will move his arms up and make contact near the defenders face.  But anytime there is something even questionable, the game is stopped and I get annoyed.  The refs are not only stopping for elbows but are blowing the whistle any time there is a question related to the clock or whether a shot was a two or three or in the case of Elijah Johnson and Mitch McGary, to review a

2) There will not be a single commercial that I have not previously seen.
There are a butt load of things I love about March Madness, but the thing I hate the most is the commercials.  Wow those are repetitive.   Last night I decided to play a game during every commercial break and try to find a commercial that I had not already seen.  I had two games running at all times and during those 5 or more hours of basketball (2.5 hours or more of commercials) I only saw one commercial that I had not previously seen.  The commercials are not only repetitive but also painfully stupid.  I don't know yet which commercial wins the award for the worst but some of the front runners include: Southwest Airlines,  Quiznos Lobster Sandwich, Subway Italy, Northwestern Mutual, the Bud Light blind date, and in my upset of the year, all of the Capital One commercials (they were funny, but they quickly got really super awful and annoying after the five gazillionth time I saw them).  We will be forced to watch each of these commercials way too many more times and it's gonna suck (but I have to give it up to Sonic for making a watchable and re-watchable commercial and not playing it every 10 seconds).

3) Three of the four games will come down to the final minute.
Of all the Sweet 16 games, only two of the games were honestly exciting (Ohio State v Arizona and Michigan v Kansas).  The rest of them were actually pretty lame.  But by this point, the teams that were "lucky" have been weeded out and we should be left with nothing but good teams.  Even Wichita State who is a 9 seed should be able to keep it close against Ohio State.  There is not a single game that I can say, "x team is going to win and y team has no chance."  Of the 8 teams remaining, I think each of them can make it to the Final Four and would not be surprised by any of the possible outcomes.  After all, now that Arizona and FGCU are out of it, who do I have left to cheer for?  I guess Wichita State is the closest thing to a west coast, Cinderella team, so, Go Shockers!

4) Three of the four lower seeds win.
This would be a huge upset.  Almost as crazy as if Tim Hardaway Sr and Glen Robinson (the second? Or junior? I don't know what he is being called, he was always just Glen Robinson, but now that there is Glen Robinson III what do we call the original?) were not shown on camera at least once during the Michigan game.  I am pretty confident that Louisville will beat Duke, so that would mean that Wichita, Syracuse, and Michigan would all have to win.  I don't know if I am bold enough to make that pick, but whatever, I am going to do it.  Like I said above, I would not be surprised if it went the exact opposite way and Duke won and all the other lower seeds lost.  Let's just hope these games are more exciting than the Sweet 16 games were.

So there you have it.  My four predictions for the Elite 8.  I'll also add in a 5th prediction:  Mitch McGary will score 40 points against Florida, walk off the court, declare for the NBA draft, get drafted 36th overall, spend a season on the bench for the Kings (or Sonics) and then end up in Europe before returning to Michigan in 2018 to get his degree and spend the rest of his life as a 6th grade teacher.  Wait, I have no idea why I made that prediction.  I guess I wanted to at least get one of these wrong since the rest of my predictions are so dead on.

I also have to give a shout out to my buddy Clark who is currently in 10th place out of thousands on ESPN's Tournament Challenge.  If you want some real predictions on the games, go talk to him.

A Little Less Complicated Bracket

All I have heard from anyone these past few days is, "So man, hows your bracket look?"  I can't think of a polite way to say, "Dude, it sucks, everyone's bracket sucks", so instead I usually just shrug my shoulders, make a sound that sounds like I am saying, "I don't know" but no words actually are said and act like I didn't even realize March Madness started.  Let's face it, picking the first two rounds is just too much and no one will ever get close to getting it all right.  My wife and I are more likely to give birth to a black baby (we are both white) than anyone is going to get all their picks right.  So I give my plea to everyone, stop worrying so much about your bracket and just sit back and enjoy the games.  If you didn't pick FGCU to get this far, its not your fault, no one did, so just enjoy the upsets (unless you are a Georgetown fan, in that case, you have the right to be upset, I know what that's like).  So let's pretend that that first weekend of basketball didn't happen and lets re-pick with the remaining teams.  It's the Sweet 16, only two wins from the Final Four, so who will take the first steps to get to Atlanta? Lets break it down:

Thursday
Marquette (3) vs. Miami (2)
The news broke this morning that Miami will be without big man Reggie Johnson for the Sweet 16.  He is the Hurricane's top rebounder but if anyone has watched Miami in the previous few games, they could easily tell that Johnson was not playing his best and was clearly hampered by an injury.  So the strange reality is that Miami may actually be better off allowing him to sit this game out.  This will cause the Canes to play a smaller lineup and should improve their perimeter defending.  Marquette on the other hand has had to pull off a couple of miracle games to get to this point.  They won their first two games by a combined 3 points.  I don't look into the previous games too much because all that matters is that the Golden Eagle's won.  But I think their lucks runs out against Miami.
Winner: Miami

Arizona (6) vs. Ohio State (2)
The Wildcats are basically the opposite of an Oreo cookie.  Not because they are a bunch of white guys who are black on the inside, but because they are playing the best basketball at the beginning and end of the season with some not so good play squished in the middle (and we all know the best part of the Oreo is the middle, for that reason, they are the opposite of an Oreo, or an inside out Oreo, or whatever you want to

call it, come on, you get the analogy).  But the same thing could be said about the Buckeyes as they have won 10 straight games and are playing great the last part of the year.  I think the most exciting one-on-one match-up of this round will be seen in the game with Mark Lyons who is a fast and aggressive PG who can break down his defender and get to the rack goes up against one of the nation's best defenders, Aaron Craft.  It will also be interesting to see how Arizona guards Deshaun Thomas, OSU's leading scorer.  The Cats will need to figure out how to stop Thomas and limit his scoring.  I think their best option is to be aggressive on offense with Solomon Hill, Brandon Ashley, and Grant Jerrett, and attack Thomas and hope to get him into foul trouble, which will cause Thomas to not be as aggressive on offense.  I don't know if the fact that Sean Miller is a Thad Motta disciple and was his Assistant Coach at Xavier before taking over his job after Matta left for Ohio State, will actually play a factor in the game or not.  The Wildcats would love to say that the student has become the teacher, but I think when it's all said and done, the teacher will remain the teacher. The Arizona fans will need some luck, maybe they can get former Buckeye walk-on, Mark Titus, to watch the game with his parents.  Pretty much whoever wins this game is on their way to the Final Four (the winner plays the winner of La Salle and Wichita St).
Winner: Ohio State (I hope I'm wrong)

Syracuse (4) vs. Indiana (1)
This may be one of the more interesting Sweet 16 games of the year.  Indiana was tested against Temple and needed some late game heroics from Victor Oladipo to defeat the Owls while Syracuse was never really tested in either of their first two games.  They beat Montana so badly that they left the Grizzlies looking like a camper covered in beef jerky after getting attacked by an actual grizzly.  I have heard arguments for both teams in this game.  Some people have been very impressed with the Cuse and think they will pull off the upset while other people think any team the Big 10 puts on the court has superhero powers and will win just because they have a Big 10 patch on the jersey.  I do think the Big 10 is the best conference in the country and it's conceivable to think that all 4 Final Four teams could be from that conference.  Indiana is the better team but they have lost to teams worse than Syracuse this season.  So, hmm, who will win? Gosh, stop pressuring me to pick.  I have no freakin clue who will win this one.  Indiana is going to want to score in transition while Syracuse will hope to play half court offense and therefore stop the Hoosiers from running.  Whoever is able to control the tempo and play at their pace will win.
Winner: Indiana

La Salle (13) vs. Wichita State (9)

These two teams had big upsets along the way to the Sweet 16 beating teams seeded higher than them in both of their first two games.  I had not seen much of either team before the start of the tournament and therefore cannot give any inside information as to who will win, but the eye test tells me that Wichita State has the advantage.  I thought they looked better in their first two games and looked like a team that could play tough against anyone they're matched up against in the tournament.  La Salle is hoping to repeat the feat accomplished by VCU from two years ago when they went from the First Four to the Final Four, but I think they come up short against the Shockers (and please no more "they shocked the world" jokes, we all know by now their name is the Shockers, jokes over).
Winner: Wichita State

Friday
Oregon (12) vs. Louisville (1)
Let's pretend that this is a 1 vs 4 match-up in the Sweet 16 because the fact that Oregon has a 12 by their names makes people think that they are on the same level as La Salle, FGCU or even Wichita State, but they're not.  They won the PAC 12 regular season title and only lost 8 games this season.  They are much better than a 12 seed and proved that in their first two games.  This is a very similar situation to when Arizona was a 12 seed in 2009 and made it to the Sweet 16 only to play Louisville, who was the #1 overall seed.  But that was nothing but bad news for the Wildcats who got murdered (if that word is even harsh enough for how badly they lost), losing 103-64.  I think Oregon will keep the game a little bit closer than that, but they ran into some bad luck.  If they were playing one of the other top seeds, maybe they would have a little bit better of a chance, but I just don't see it happening for the Ducks.
Winner: Louisville

Michigan (4) vs. Kansas (1)
I have been very impressed with the Wolverines in the first two games and I have only been kinda impressed with Kansas.  They did look very good in the second half against North Carolina, but all year, I have never felt like Kansas was a true national title contender.  Michigan on the other hand looked better than they had almost all year when they beat VCU in the second round.  If Michigan can continue to get production from

Mitch McGary, I think they will win this game.  His ability to score in the paint, run in transition, and defend Jeff Withey will be key for Michigan.  I think they are more talented and are playing up to their potential right now.
Winner: Michigan

Michigan State (3) vs. Duke (2)
Wow, I feel like I am about to watch a Final Four showdown from pretty much every year of the past decade.  These two teams have been staples in the late rounds of the tournaments for many years thanks to the only thing on a college basketball team that is ever consistent, the head coach.  The Spartans looked incredible against Memphis who I thought was going to keep it close based on their incredible athleticism.  Duke looked good against Creighton, but not great, they were never quite able to deliver the knock out blow and although the game never got too close, Duke simply did not look as dominate as I expected.  I thought going into the tournament that Ryan Kelly would be the key to Duke making a run, but I was wrong, it is all about Seth Curry.  He has proven to be the best player on the team and if Duke hopes to win, it will come down to Curry making big shots.  I am looking forward to watching both the Curry vs Harris and the Plumlee vs Nix match-ups.  If PG Keith Appling is able to play well after his injury, I think the Spartans get the win.  Maybe this game will be Tom Izzo's change to show Jabari Parker that he made the wrong choice picking Duke over State.
Winner: Michigan State

Florida Gulf Coat University (15) vs. Florida (3)
Ahh man, this sucks.  I hate that it has to end, but I think my love affair with FGCU is soon to be over.  Or maybe I am just planning for the worst.  Here is what needs to happen if FGCU wants to win: Florida needs

to not show up to the game.  I don't mean literally, although that would for sure guarantee a Eagle win, I mean they need to play how they did against Kentucky down the stretch and not score for the final 7 minutes.  Or how they played against Arizona giving up a 7 point lead with less than a minute left in the game.  Florida has shown that they can have a brain fart for a period of time and lose games they had no right losing.   FGCU certainly has the athleticism to hang with the Gators and keep it close just in case that meltdown does happen.  But Billy Donovan has been in this situation before, both as a player and as a coach and I think he will have his team ready.  There will be a lot of FGCU "fans" at Cowboy Stadium (by fans I mean the few fans that they send to the game plus all the Michigan and Kansas fans who will be cheering for them as well), but in the end, I think the Gators are too good to let the Eagles get away with another upset.  But once again, I hope I am wrong.
Winner: Florida

Who is Florida Gulf Coast?

So I hear there is a number 15 seed in the Sweet 16.  Huh, that's interesting.  Who is it? Valparaiso? Lehigh? Santa Clara? Wait, who is it? Florida Gulf Coast? Is that a University or a geographical region in the state of Florida? Wow, I have never heard of that University, and they made it all the way to the Sweet 16? That's incredible.
No doubt many people woke up this morning, came into work, and had a similar conversation to the one above.  Let's face it, come March, everyone pretends to be a college basketball fan, it's the things to do, but very few people knew anything about Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) before the start of the tournament.  I too did not know much about them.  I knew that they beat Miami earlier this season but that was the extent of my knowledge of FGCU.  I am usually not one to jump on a band wagon and become a fan of the team doing well.  I remember when I was in 4th grade I think, living in Tucson, AZ, there was a girl in my class named Kelley.  She was the prettiest girl in our class and all the boys had a crush on her.  I remember one day I asked her who her favorite NFL team was and she told me the Green Bay Packers.  I thought to myself, "Why would she be a Packers fan? We don't live anywhere near Green Bay. Where the heck is Green Bay?" So I asked her, "Why are you a Packers fan?"  She responded, "Because they won the Super Bowl." Well that was all I needed to hear to no longer have a crush on her.  Even as a 4th grader, I could not stand people who liked teams only because they were good and won championships.  I don't know why, it was some internal natural feeling I had, but I could not betray my team simply because another team was better than them.  I am 100% against band-wagon fans.  Or am I?
After this weekend, I think I may have to hitch by wagon to FGCU and become a fan of the Eagles.  I am sure I am not the only person who feels this way after watching them beat #2 Georgetown and #7 San Diego State.  I cannot remember ever seeing a team that was this exciting before.  So I decided to study up a little bit on Florida Gulf Coast so that when I tell people I am a fan, I do not sound like I became a fan 3 days ago, even though I did.
So for all you who like me have decided to be a true blue, die hard, til death (or at least until they lose), Eagles fan, here are a few facts that you should know about FGCU:

1) The University has only been around since 1997.  Let's put this into perspective.  Florida, who the Eagles play on Friday has been around since 1853.  Georgetown who the Eagles beat in the first round was established in 1789 and San Diego State who they defeated in round two came into existence in 1897.  The youngest of those 3 schools is 100 years older then FGCU and the oldest is 208 years older.   The University is younger than every single player on the team.

2)  Florida Gulf Coast has only only had a Division I sports program since 2007 but did not become eligible until 2011 because they had a 4 year probationary period. So in only 2 years they have gone from their first year of full eligibility to a spot in the Sweet 16.

3) FGCU is located in Fort Myers, FL and when it was originally established, classes were being held in trailers.  Fort Myers is a town of just over 63,000 people and is located 2 hours northwest of Miami.  Campus is just a short drive from the beach.

4)  The FGCU mascot is named Azul the Eagle.  Azul mean blue in Spanish, in case anyone forgot day one of High School Spanish class.  But Azul is not Azul, he is brown and white just like any other bald eagle.  Go ahead and add him on Facebook.

5) FGCU is coached by Andy Enfield who has been the head coach since 2011.  In his first season as head coach he brought the Eagles to the Atlantic Sun championship game and in his second season he won the Atlantic Sun title game earning the FGCU their first automatic bid to the tournament.

6) As everyone who watched the game knows, Enfield is married to a former supermodel.  But what most people don't know is that on their first date, he took her to get dinner before they attended a basketball game, and where did he take his beautiful date to eat? Well only finest and most delicious establishment known to man, Taco Bell.

7)  FGCU's leading scorer this season is Sherwood Brown, a Senior Guard from Orlando, FL. Brown is majoring in Legal Studies and was the 2013 A-Sun player of the year.  He was not named after the band Sherwood (est. 2002) or the Sherwood Forest in England, he was given the same name as his father.  But I have no idea who or what his father was named after.

8)  Five of the FGCU players are from the state of Florida, but three of them are from over-sees, Germany, Switzerland, and Croatia.

9) The most expensive season tickets to the Men's Basketball team are $279.  The cheapest season tickets are $99 for general admission.  The Alico Arena where they play seats 4,500 people.  Many major universities charge $279 for a single game ticket if you want to sit in the lower bowl.  For example an average single game ticket for the University of Arizona is $150, season tickets were priced from $500 for the worst seats all the way to $2,100.

10) FGCU is the first ever #15 seed to make it to the sweet 16.  Six previous times a 15 seed knocked off a 2 seed in the first round, but never before has that 2 seed won the second round game to advance to the round of 16.

Now that we all know a little bit more about FGCU, I think it is ok if we decide to cheer for them on Friday night against Florida.  GO EAGLES!!!

First Weekend in Review

I hope everyone enjoyed the first weekend of March Madness as much as I did. It was an exciting 4 days of basketball. For me it was especially exciting that my Arizona Wildcats were able to make it to the Sweet 16. March Madness is always exciting, but it is much better when you have your own team to cheer for. I don't know what I will do if both Arizona and Florida Gulf Coast lose this week in the Sweet 16, I'm gonna be forced to cheer for, uh, gosh, I don't even know who I would be cheering for, probably Wichita State. Come on Wildcats! On Thursday morning before the games started I made a couple of predictions for the first weekend of the tournament, so lets see how I did.


1) There will be an upset no one is expecting. Hmm, lets see, how many people had Harvard over New Mexico or FGCU over Georgetown? I know I certainly didn't, I had the Hoyas in the Final Four. I think those two games would count as unexpected upsets. My other prediction was that a #1 seed would be tested. Both Gonzaga and Kansas won by single digits and Gonzaga was tied with Southern in the final minutes of the second half before Kevin Pangos hit a couple of big shots including a step-back 3 from the corner. (1 for 1)

2) Someone will have their coming our party in the first round. Honestly, there were a couple of people that could fit this description. I think of Mitch McGary who was a bench player averaging only 6.4 ppg until he got called up to start for Michigan and scored 13 and 21 points in the first and second rounds, respectively. I also think Sherwood Brown became one of the most exciting players to watch over the first weekend. No one had heard of him or pretty much anyone from FGCU, but now the entire country knows their names, and everyone knows that their head coach is married to a former Victoria's Secret model (the camera flashed to her every time FGCU scored). Sherwood Brown had 24 points in the Eagles first game and followed it up with 17 in the second game. He has some amazing dreads and loves to stick his tongue out. He is awesome. I would be in Heaven if this team continued to win. Not only are they a number 15 seed and fit the bill of a Cinderella team, they are one of the most fun teams I have ever watched in the tournament. They have had some absolutely mind-blowing dunks that made me think that Lob City was located in Fort Meyers, Florida and not Los Angeles. I even asked my wife if she would mind naming our first son Sherwood. Check back with me in a few years to see if she was ok with that. I must also give a bit of a homer shout out to Mark Lyons who led Arizona with 23 and 27 points in the first two games. He was without question the best player on the court for either team in those games. He finally started to look like a PG and was able to distribute without causing too many turnovers. But I must also finally mention the player of the tournament so far, Khalif Wyatt, who had 31 points against both NC State and Indiana. Temple almost pulled off the upset of the Hoosiers and the star of the show was Wyatt (until Oladipo stole the crown in the end). I don't know if McGary, Brown, Lyons, or Wyatt will carry this stellar play into the NBA, but at least for now, people who maybe didn't know too much about them before the start of the week, now know their names. (2 for 2)

3) At least 3 double digit seeds will make it to the Sweet 16. Sunday afternoon I was starting to worry that this pick would not materialize and the tournament would be left with only 2 double digit seeds, but thanks to the Eagles of Florida Gulf coast, a third double digit seed advanced to the round of 16. Remaining after the weekend of chaos is #12 Oregon, #13 La Salle, and #15 Florida Gulf Coast. I don't know if any of these teams can make it to the Elite 8, but for now, all have their tickets books for at least one more game. (3 for 3)

Overall, it was a great first weekend. Let's hope the next few days can keep the excitement rolling. In case anyone else wants to jump on the band wagon, get your gear before Friday's game.

Best Day of the Year!

It is finally here.  Let me tell you what happened to me last night, I COULDN'T SLEEP.  Oh but not because I wasn't tired or because I had to take care of a crying baby, no it was because I was so excited for March Madness to begin.  It was like being a kid on Christmas eve.  So I wanted to give you all a few additional picks for this first day of the tournament.  These picks have nothing to do with Streak for the Cash or College Pick 'Em, but these are my 3 top things to look for on the first weekend of the dance.

1) There will be an upset no one is expecting.  Most people are picking Oregon over Oklahoma State or Belmont over Arizona, or Saint Mary's over Memphis, but my prediction is that there is an upset out there that no one is expecting.  Unless you all totally forget about how insane and unpredictable the regular season was, how can you not expect something of equal insanity to happen today?  Last season we had two 15 seeds win on the first day of the tournament.  Now I will not be bold enough to predict that something that awesome will happen again, but there will be a few shockers.  I am expecting Davidson to take Marquette down to the wire. I think Harvard may keep it close against New Mexico.  I also think Iona, who has the 5th highest scorer in the country in Momo Jones and their other guard Sean Armand can make lots and lots of 3's, he knocked down 7 or more on multiple occasions this season.  Iona will not be an easy out for the Buckeyes.  And now, my biggest prediction of all: a number 1 seed will ALMOST lose.  Last season Syracuse almost got knocked off by #16 UNC Asheville.  I was impressed by some of the #16 seeds in the play-in games and would not be surprised if a #1 seed is tested again early.

2) Someone will have their coming out party in the first round.  Like Steph Curry did back in 2008 leading his team all the way to the Elite 8 and missing out on a Final Four by 2 points. Curry's tournament play turned him into a # 7 draft pick.  Back in 2011 Derrick Williams of Arizona led his team all the way to the Elite 8 and had his coming out party against Duke when he scored 32 points.  He was subsequently selected #2 in the following NBA draft.  This year someone who is almost unknown will stand out and surprise a lot of people. I think someone will have their coming out party in this tournament.  Maybe Nate Wolters, or Mike Muscala, or Spencer Dinwiddie, but I have a feeling that someone unexpected is going to put up big numbers.  My bold prediction: Someone will score 40 points in the first round.

3)  At least 3, thats right 3, double digit seeds will make it to the Sweet 16.  Lets face it, we all love to pick the upsets but when we pick our brackets, we usually make the straight forward chalk picks after the first round.  We pick an upset here or there, but then come round two, its all chalk.  Most people's Sweet 16's are nothing but top 4 seeds and maybe an 8 seed.  But if we look at the most recent years, double digits seeds are advancing.  In 2010, Washington (11), St. Mary's (10), Cornell (12).  In 2011, Richmond (12), VCU (11), Florida St. (10), Marquette (11).  And last year in 2012, Xavier (10), Ohio (13), NC State (11).   So this year will be more of the same.  So don't just pick chalk.  Some of your first round upsets will also go to the next round.

I hope you all enjoy the tournament! Let's pray for some upsets and some buzzer beaters.  Oh yes, it is finally here.  If you are having to work and won't be able to watch all the games on TV, make sure you check out (http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/?ncaa_mid=persistence-bar:%20mml) and stream all the games live. If you are watching the games at work, just click on the "Boss Button" and an Outlook screen will come up so your boss won't yell at you.  Don't get fired! Also, for those of you who enjoy Grantland, check out some live March Madness commentary with Bill Simmons, Jalen Rose, and others (http://www.grantland.com/live). Check out thefantasysportscenter.com for picks, predictions, and all things related to fantasy sports, especially the NCAA tournament.

Good luck on all your picks.  Have a great first weekend of the tournament.

Why Aaron Gordon Belongs at Arizona

A few weeks back I took my wife to see a High School basketball game with me.  She is always such a great sport and was willing to come with me to watch a bunch of 16 and 17 year old boys run up and down the court of a tiny gym.  It had none of the excitement or flare that she has grown to love when attending Warriors games at Oracle Arena.  Nevertheless, she sat with me and watched a group of young men shoot air balls, miss lay ups, bank in free throws, and struggle to score 40 points (wow, sounds like we watched a recent Syracuse game together).  But we were at the game for one purpose, to see Aaron Gordon, the #4 ranked High School basketball player in the country.

Gordon is a 6'8" senior from San Jose, CA who is attending Arch Bishop Mitty.  I was excited to get the chance to watch one of the nation's top prep athletes.  But what added to my excitement was that he has selected a group of potential colleges to attend and Arizona, my favorite team, is on that short list.  The negative side to all this is that also on that list is Big Blue Nation, the Kentucky Wildcats.  Lets face it, in today's day and age, High School players want what Kentucky has to offer: a chance at a National Championship before leaving school after one season and becoming a lottery pick in the NBA draft.  Kentucky is known for starting five Freshman each season, sending all of them to the NBA draft and then getting five new ones the next season.  Coach John Calipari is not breaking the NCAA rules by recruiting players with the promise of turning them into NBA players within a season, so I can't blame him for what he does, but in my opinion, he is one of the major flaws with the college game and a big reason the quality of play continues to decline each season.  But this is the world we live in, as Jalen Rose says, we live in a "microwave world."  Young kids want everything right away, instant gratification.  Very few players are willing to be patient and let their game grow and mature before making the leap to the NBA and the big money awaiting them.
I don't think Kentucky is the right place for Aaron Gordon; he belongs at the University of Arizona.  I have decided to put on the hat of a recruiter and tell this young man the top 3 reasons he should become a red and blue Wildcat and not a blue and white Wildcat.

Reason # 3 - Location
Tucson is 820 miles away from San Jose.  Lexington is about 2,500 miles away from San Jose.  Tucson is warm year around and rarely snows.  In the winter during basketball season, Lexington is very cold and will often snow.  The weather in San Jose is much closer to the weather in Tucson than it is in Kentucky.  The culture in San Jose is much closer to the culture in Tucson than it is to the culture in Kentucky.  If you have ever been to the south, although it has great food and great people, it is very different than California.
So why does all of this matter if Gordon is only going to play basketball? I for some odd reason decided to go to a university in Idaho.  I grew up in Tucson and Hawaii.  Both warm climates.  I had never been around the cold before.  Every day I had to walk to class in the freezing cold with ice and snow on the ground I would ask myself, "Why am I here? Why am I not at home where it's warm?"  It also took me a long time to get use to the small town, farming culture of Idaho.  College life can be hard enough, there is no reason to make it any tougher by living far away from home in a new and strange culture.

Reason # 2 - Big man on Campus

Both Arizona and Kentucky have amazing college basketball environments.  In both cities basketball takes a back seat to no other sport.  Both schools have had decent football teams in the past, but neither team compares to the consistent quality of their basketball team.  When a team has been so good for so long, it is inevitable that those teams are going to have amazing fans.  Kentucky has been known for years for having one of the greatest fan bases; a fan base that goes wherever their team goes.  Arizona may not be as well know, but they are equally as amazing as the UK fans.  According to Mark Titus, a writer for Grantland, he says this about Arizona's home crowd, "I've never been to a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, The Pit, or Gallagher-Iba Arena, but I have been to pretty much every other must-see arena in college basketball, and for me the McKale Center atmosphere trails only Indiana's Assembly Hall and Kansas's Allen Fieldhouse. When you factor in that most of the crowd is in the The Price Is Right target demographic, maybe McKale should be no. 1. Anyway, if you haven't already, put the McKale Center on your college basketball bucket list."  I too have been to many games in Tucson and they are special.  Wherever Gordon goes, he will get to play in front of a great crowd and amazing atmosphere.  But if he goes to Kentucky, he will become just another one of their many top recruits to be funneled in and out of the school.  This year alone UK has signed 5 of the top 20 High School players in the country.  Gordon would be number 6 if he chooses to play for Big Blue Nation.  For the fans, he would be just another of the great players.  But if he went to Arizona, he would be "The Guy."  He would be the big man on campus and would be loved by everyone.  And trust me, when Tucson develops a relationship with a player, that relationship never dies.  Fans still feel pride each time they see Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, Jason Gardner, or even Luke Walton home in Tucson.  They love their players and treat them that way forever.  When I was a teenager I was at an Arizona football game and saw a huge crowd of people surrounding someone.  I did not know who it was so I walked over to see.  It was Steve Kerr who had been retired from the NBA for a few years.  He was never a super star in the NBA and would be best described as a role player off the bench.  But in Tucson, he was loved by everyone.  Crowds surrounded him to get the chance to shake his hand and say hello.  If Aaron Gordon comes to Tucson, he will not be just another one of the many recruits, he would be loved by an entire city.

Reason # 1 - The player Aaron Gordon wants to become

A lot of people have compared Aaron Gordon to Blake Griffin.  But when I saw him play, I did not see Blake Griffin.  I saw someone who does not want to be a low post powerhouse. I saw someone who wants to play on the wings, take jump shots, drive to the hoop, and when necessary, get dirty with the big men under the basket.  Like I mentioned above, he is 6'8".  He is tool small to play power forward in the NBA.  He belongs on the wing but does not yet have all the skills that he needs to be a wing player at the highest level.  Lets not forget, LeBron James is also 6'8".  In the 4 seasons that Sean Miller has been the coach at Arizona, he has taken two players who were considered "big men" in High School and has turned them into elite wing players who can shoot from the perimeter and also drive to the basket and finish or distribute.  Both Solomon Hill and Derrick Williams were the same size as Aaron Gordon.  Both of them were not considered good shooters when they came out of high school.  Neither of them was expected to be a perimeter threat.  But in his Sophomore season, Derrick Williams became one of the best players in the country.  He shot over 50% from behind the arc and made some very impressive dunks.  He led Arizona all the way to the Elite 8, knocking off the top seeded Duke Blue Devils along the way.  He was later chosen #2 overall in the NBA draft.  Solomon Hill has not received the same recognition and exposure as Derrick Williams did, but he is nevertheless an incredible wing player and the leader of the Arizona Wildcats.  He can bring the ball up court and create offense for himself or his teammates.  When Arizona needs a big basket, Hill will often take the ball the length of the court and get a dunk or find the open player for 3.
Aaron Gordon has two great examples of players who learned under the tutelage of Sean Miller and became great college players on the wing.  If Gordon wants to become the kind of player that I believe he wants to become, there is no better coach than Sean Miller to help get him there.  And with the departure of Solomon Hill after this season, there will be a much needed vacancy in the lineup with Aaron Gordon's name on it.
Arizona refers to itself as "A Players Program" and that is exactly what it is.  I do not want Aaron Gordon to make the same mistake that his brother Drew made by picking the wrong school and having to transfer later.  I cannot predict the future for Aaron Gordon, but I believe it would shine much brighter in the desert sun than anywhere else.