It’s nice to have a franchise point guard, isn’t it?
Author: John Paulsen (Page 61 of 937)
In the ESPN documentary “The Fab Five,” Jalen Rose and his teammates made a few comments about the Duke basketball program. The most inflammatory was that the black Duke players were “Uncle Toms.” Grant Hill’s name was brought up, and Hill has since responded via the New York Times’ college sports blog.
My teammates at Duke — all of them, black and white — were a band of brothers who came together to play at the highest level for the best coach in basketball. I know most of the black players who preceded and followed me at Duke. They all contribute to our tradition of excellence on the court.
It is insulting and ignorant to suggest that men like Johnny Dawkins (coach at Stanford), Tommy Amaker (coach at Harvard), Billy King (general manager of the Nets), Tony Lang (coach of the Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins in Japan), Thomas Hill (small-business owner in Texas), Jeff Capel (former coach at Oklahoma and Virginia Commonwealth), Kenny Blakeney (assistant coach at Harvard), Jay Williams (ESPN analyst), Shane Battier (Memphis Grizzlies) and Chris Duhon (Orlando Magic) ever sold out their race.
To hint that those who grew up in a household with a mother and father are somehow less black than those who did not is beyond ridiculous. All of us are extremely proud of the current Duke team, especially Nolan Smith. He was raised by his mother, plays in memory of his late father and carries himself with the pride and confidence that they instilled in him.
Well said, Grant.
In a recent column, FoxSports columnist Jason Whitlock took the Fab Five to task for saying such things:
The Fab Five clearly believe Coach K and Duke didn’t and don’t recruit inner-city black kids, and they believe race/racism/elitism are the driving forces behind the philosophy.
Let’s go back to the Fab Five era and Duke’s philosophy then. Coach K recruited kids who had every intention of staying in school for four years. He recruited kids who had a good chance of competing academically at Duke and could meet the standardized test score qualifications for entrance.
The Fab Five stated it was their intention to win a national championship and turn pro as a group after their sophomore season. Webber, who was recruited by Duke, left Michigan after two years. Rose and Howard left as juniors. Impoverished inner-city kids have good reason to turn pro early. I’m not knocking Webber, Howard and Rose for their decisions. They didn’t fit the Duke profile at the time.
During the three-year run of the Fab Five (one season without Webber), Duke beat Michigan all four times the schools met while winning two ACC titles and one NCAA title. During the same span, Michigan won zero conference or national titles. In addition, Webber’s interactions with booster Ed Martin put the program on probation and caused Michigan to forfeit all its games.
I think Coach K recruited and recruits the right kids for Duke.
It turns out that Jalen Rose was the executive producer of the documentary, so it would be tough to argue that his words were taken out of context.
The Clemson Tigers were impressive last night in their 70-52 rout of UAB. In Monday’s bracket column, I picked Clemson to beat UAB, but to lose in the first round against West Virginia. Since they won so impressively, I decided to take another look at the updated Sagarin and Pomeroy numbers to see if they changed my opinion of the game.
Below is a table with the updated numbers, including updated spreads from World Sports Exchange.
| # | Team A | Team B | Sag Adv | Pom % | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | UT-San Antonio | Alabama State | 6.9 | 73.1% | -3 |
| 4 | USC | VCU | 5.4 | 71.5% | -4 |
| 5 | Ohio State | UT-San Antonio | 27.0 | 99.0% | |
| 6 | George Mason | Villanova | -2.1 | 49.7% | -1 |
| 7 | West Virginia | Clemson | 1.4 | 48.9% | |
| 8 | Kentucky | Princeton | 13.9 | 90.3% | -13 |
| 9 | Xavier | Marquette | -2.1 | 47.3% | -2.5 |
| 10 | Syracuse | Indiana State | 13.4 | 90.2% | -12 |
| 11 | Washington | Georgia | 8.1 | 73.1% | -5.5 |
| 12 | North Carolina | LIU | 13.5 | 91.1% | -17.5 |
| 13 | Duke | Hampton | 25.2 | 98.6% | -23 |
| 14 | Michigan | Tennessee | 1.1 | 56.9% | +2 |
| 15 | Arizona | Memphis | 8.8 | 78.8% | -5.5 |
| 16 | Texas | Oakland | 10.5 | 87.9% | -9.5 |
| 17 | Cincinnati | Missouri | 0.9 | 56.5% | PICK |
| 18 | Connecticut | Bucknell | 10.6 | 84.5% | -10 |
| 19 | Temple | Penn State | 1.2 | 50.7% | -2.5 |
| 20 | San Diego State | Northern Colorado | 14.5 | 93.4% | -15.5 |
| 21 | Kansas | Boston University | 23.2 | 97.5% | -22.5 |
| 22 | UNLV | Illinois | -0.7 | 47.5% | -2 |
| 23 | Vanderbilt | Richmond | 2.8 | 56.8% | -2.5 |
| 24 | Louisville | Morehead State | 12.5 | 88.1% | -9.5 |
| 25a | Georgetown | USC | 3.1 | 56.0% | |
| 25b | Georgetown | VCU | 8.6 | 76.2% | |
| 26 | Purdue | St. Peter’s | 17.6 | 93.0% | -14 |
| 27 | Texas A&M | Florida State | -0.1 | 48.8% | -1 |
| 28 | Notre Dame | Akron | 14.5 | 92.0% | -14 |
| 29 | Pittsburgh | NC-Asheville | 18.1 | 95.1% | |
| 30 | Butler | Old Dominion | 1.5 | 50.2% | +2 |
| 31 | Kansas State | Utah State | -0.7 | 40.4% | -2.5 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | Belmont | 3.7 | 60.8% | -5 |
| 33 | St. John’s | Gonzaga | -0.2 | 47.7% | -1.5 |
| 34 | BYU | Wofford | 12.4 | 85.9% | -8.5 |
| 35 | UCLA | Michigan State | -1.7 | 44.4% | +1.5 |
| 36 | Florida | UC-Santa Barbara | 11.6 | 89.3% | -12.5 |
Looking at yesterday’s numbers, West Virginia’s Sagarin advantage dropped from 2.4 to 1.4, while the Pomeroy % dropped from 52.7% to 48.9%, so clearly the Tigers’ win last night had an effect.
This game is now officially a toss-up, but I’m still going to go with West Virginia. Clemson is 0-4 this season against Top 25 Sagarin teams and WVU is #19. Plus, Clemson has to fly to Florida and turn around and play on Thursday at 12:15 PM ET, which is the first game of the day.
However, those of you in pools that reward upsets may want to give Clemson a hard look. Before trouncing UAB last night, the Tigers were poised to pull the upset against North Carolina in the tournament before falling in overtime. I’m worried about the quick turnaround to an early game, but they’re playing good basketball right now and this is a very tight game. Given the seed disparity (5/12), it is probably worth rolling the dice on Clemson in a pool that rewards upsets.
Looking for updated numbers? Click here.
If you’ve read my annual March Madness bracket column or if you are a stathead in general, you’ll know what the title of this post means. If you don’t, check out my column and come back.
Here are the first 36 matchups representing the First Four and the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Sagarin advantage represents the spread in Jeff Sagarin’s predictor ratings. If the number is positive, it means that Team A is the Sagarin favorite. If the number is negative, then it means Team B (and the lower seed) is actually the favorite.
The Pomeroy % represents the chances that Team A will win the game according to Ken Pomeroy’s Pythagorean calculation.
Over the last four years, teams with a 2+ point advantage in Sagarin’s “predictor” rating have won 156 of 198 games (78.7%). Over the last two years, if a team had at least a 65% expected win rate according to Pomeroy’s Pythagorean calculation, they won 61 of 76 games (80.2%).
I’ve also included the spread for the game at the World Sports Exchange. Oftentimes the spread is very close to the Sagarin spread.
| # | Team A | Team B | Sag Adv. | Pom % | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NC-Asheville | Arkansas-Little Rock | 4.5 | 69.2% | -4 |
| 2 | UAB | Clemson | -3.4 | 34.4% | +4.5 |
| 3 | UT-San Antonio | Alabama State | 7.0 | 73.6% | -4 |
| 4 | USC | VCU | 5.3 | 70.7% | -4.5 |
| 5 | Ohio State | UT-San Antonio | 26.8 | 98.9% | |
| 6 | George Mason | Villanova | -1.8 | 50.5% | -1 |
| 7a | West Virginia | Clemson | 2.4 | 52.7% | |
| 7b | West Virginia | UAB | 5.8 | 68.0% | |
| 8 | Kentucky | Princeton | 13.5 | 89.6% | -13 |
| 9 | Xavier | Marquette | -2.1 | 47.4% | -2 |
| 10 | Syracuse | Indiana State | 13.9 | 91.0% | -11.5 |
| 11 | Washington | Georgia | 8.3 | 73.7% | -5.5 |
| 12 | North Carolina | LIU | 13.2 | 90.6% | -17.5 |
| 13 | Duke | Hampton | 25.1 | 98.6% | -22.5 |
| 14 | Michigan | Tennessee | 1.1 | 57.2% | +1.5 |
| 15 | Arizona | Memphis | 8.6 | 77.7% | -6 |
| 16 | Texas | Oakland | 10.5 | 87.8% | -9.5 |
| 17 | Cincinnati | Missouri | 1.0 | 56.9% | PICK |
| 18 | Connecticut | Bucknell | 10.5 | 84.3% | -10 |
| 19 | Temple | Penn State | 1.2 | 51.1% | -2.5 |
| 20 | San Diego State | Northern Colorado | 14.5 | 93.4% | -15.5 |
| 21 | Kansas | Boston University | 23.0 | 97.4% | -22.5 |
| 22 | UNLV | Illinois | -0.5 | 48.4% | -2 |
| 23 | Vanderbilt | Richmond | 2.6 | 55.9% | -2 |
| 24 | Louisville | Morehead State | 12.8 | 88.5% | -9.5 |
| 25a | Georgetown | USC | 3.1 | 56.0% | |
| 25b | Georgetown | VCU | 8.3 | 75.5% | |
| 26 | Purdue | St. Peter’s | 17.2 | 92.6% | -14 |
| 27 | Texas A&M | Florida State | 0.0 | 49.2% | PICK |
| 28 | Notre Dame | Akron | 14.7 | 92.2% | -13 |
| 29 | Pittsburgh | NC-Asheville | 17.9 | 94.9% | |
| 30 | Butler | Old Dominion | 1.2 | 48.8% | +2 |
| 31 | Kansas State | Utah State | -0.8 | 39.7% | -2 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | Belmont | 3.8 | 61.4% | -4.5 |
| 33 | St. John’s | Gonzaga | -0.4 | 46.9% | -1.5 |
| 34 | BYU | Wofford | 12.6 | 86.3% | -8 |
| 35 | UCLA | Michigan State | -1.5 | 45.0% | +1.5 |
| 36 | Florida | UC-Santa Barbara | 11.4 | 88.9% | -12.5 |
ESPN is currently running a two-hour documentary about Michigan’s Fab Five (Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, and if you haven’t seen it, I’d definitely recommend it. Webber didn’t agree to participate, but the interviews with the other four members along with members of the coaching staff were quite compelling.
Yesterday, the internet was abuzz with comments made by the former Michigan players about Duke and especially Christian Laettner, whom Rose thought was an “overrated pu**y,” until he actually played against him and saw that he had some serious game. I’ll leave those comments alone since Rose eventually gave Laettner credit, but there are a few other moments in the documentary that jumped out at me:
1. Rose hated Duke because they wouldn’t recruit someone like him; they only recruited “Uncle Tom”-type black players. He also admitted he hated Grant Hill because Hill grew up in a great home while Rose grew up poor with an absentee father. Rose probably hit the nail on the head with regard to why many inner city blacks resent/criticize suburban blacks; it’s out of envy. They see lives that are more comfortable than theirs, and they lash out in anger. The Fab Five translated this to a hatred of the Duke players, including guys like Grant Hill and Thomas Hill.
I suspect if Mike Krzyzewski were asked about his recruiting habits and answered honestly, he’d say that he had the luxury of recruiting players (of whatever race) that he thought would fit into his team-first concept. He already had a successful college program, so why recruit a ‘risky’ player like Rose who may or may not fit into what he’s trying to build? The last thing he wants is to have a to battle a player on a daily basis.
In the end, Duke was 3-0 against the Fab Five, so I’d say the Blue Devils got the last laugh.
2. Forget the shorts, shoes, socks or even the style of play. The thing that bothered me about the Fab Five was the in-your-face taunting. The film was great because it reminded me of what I didn’t like about the Fab Five. Their play was outstanding. Nobody hogged the ball and winning was paramount, so from a pure basketball respect, they were wonderful. It was all the antics that drove me nuts. There were several highlights that showed the players getting into the face of the opponent after the guy was just dunked on. It’s one thing to over-celebrate with your teammates, but to show up an opponent like that is just bad sportsmanship. This was explained away as being part of the inner city playground culture, but my guess is that if they would have gotten into someone’s face on the playground, they would have been punched in the nose (or worse). At the time, officials didn’t really call taunting technicals, so there were no consequences to those actions. Oh, and Juwan Howard was the worst. Webber or Rose would dunk and there comes Howard, getting into the grill of the guy who just got dunked on. It was no surprise that against Ohio St. in their first Final Four, Howard got headbutt to the nose at one point in the game.
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