Down Go the Mighty North Carolina Central Eagles

who woulda know we haven’t had a player tally a triple double since back in the eddie sutton era?
fortson’s looking a lot better than he did early. i hope this is pelphrey’s influence starting to show.

how long before blake eddins is doing march madness games for cbs?

Actually, it was the first game I have seen, and I was impressed because we pressed. Fortson is much better than Kareem Reid and Washington appeared to be in the best shape he’s ever been at UofA. Jason Henry has a ton of potential, too. I got a bit of basketball fever again.

The biggest downer was the empty seats — granted, the Eagles were awful, with no depth and no inside presence at all. But seeing swathes of openness in Bud Walton was strange. Also, two guys were playing electric guitar with the band at a timeout, which (since I always have tv on mute) didn’t offend me as much.

Fortston is the real thing though. He handles the ball like it’s a football and looks for the assist, not the shot. We have never had a penetrator like him. Comparing him to Kareem, Kareem was not a finisher and more often than not lost the ball once he was in the lane. I really think Fortston will be all SEC this year.

Tab,

Great to hear from you! Don’t be a stranger.

Yes, the Hogs played sloppy…The facts are that they are not really a good team YET. However, one thing about being such a young team is the pace of improvement tends to be much quicker and more noticeable as the season progresses(see Hog FB team)…As this team becomes more familiar with one another and transitions away from “reaction” mode defense, they could be very good. The addition of Marcus Monk could be huge in speeding up this process…Monk is a great defender on the wing, which is where our defense is currently weakest..He is very long and athletic and gives them much needed depth at sm fwd position…his maturity will have a huge positive impact on the team I feel…perfect timing for his arrival…
A few random thoughts:

Courtney Fortson: We finally have a bigtime PG…the difference between him and some of the other “promising” PG’s we’ve had recently is he thinks 2 secs. ahead at all times…When he drives the lane, as soon as a defender leaves his man to help the pass is made… Our guys in the past have too often driven the lane and not done this, getting either a shot blocked or a T.O….Also, Fortson has got to be the best 5’10" rebounder to ever play the game…unreal…he has a “high bball IQ” to use an over-used analogy…Corey Beck tough.

Michael Sanchez: I like him more and more every time I see him..a workhorse with soft hands and good bball instincts…always plays VERY hard.

Michael Washington: Finally playing like we all knew he could…watch his NBA stock rise…

Jason Henry: Very talented…is A HUGE KEY that he grow up fast for this team..reminds me of Ron Huery for some reason.

Rotnei Clarke: Wow.. What a shot.

Stephan Welsh: head is elsewhere lately…will be back in a big way though when competition gets better I feel.

Overall: These guys are gonna be fun to watch. We finally have a perimeter game!..The SEC is looking down this year so who knows? We could go 8-8 or maybe even 9-7 in conference this year, which would definitely be an accomplishment with so much youth on this team….

Great comments, Scott. Hope to hear from you often.