24 Hours Later...

SYRACUSE, NY - The CursedCleveland.com board of directors and editorial staff made a pledge yesterday shortly after the seedings were announced to avoid any knee-jerk postings about the selections. We fully recognize the complexities involved, such as whether or not chairman Gary Walters had to purchase an additional airline seat for his ego en route to Indy.

Now, I have to fully admit my bias here, I did attend Syracuse and yes, I went on a double date or two with Eric Devendorf. But how does a team not on the bubble find themselves left out of the tournament all together? That makes about as much sense as the Norton Furniture ad campaign. Jim Boeheim was understandably incensed. He appeared on "Mike and Mike," "Dan Patrick Show," and the "Jim Rome" show. The guy had more radio air time in the past 24 hours than Justin Timberlake. So in case you missed it, he wasn't camping happily.

You have to imagine the collective Orange nation was on suicide watch last night (You think I'm joking? One former comedian and Cuse enthusiast had the Orange on the 8-line). Syracuse had made itself a pretty good home in the tournament during the Boeheim era. Unfortunately for the Orange, the Cuse is definitely NOT in the house this time around. Oh My God. Continue Entry»

The Most Dominating Player To Dominate Nothing

I sat alone in my apartment this evening watching the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes take on their hated rivals, the Michgan Wolverines. I am a graduate of The Ohio State University, so it is in my interest to catch as many games as possible as the Buckeyes make their run to the tournament of 65. Since I do catch my fair share of Buckeye's games, I get a chance to analyze Greg Oden a bit more than your average fan who only catches highlights on "Sportscenter." After seeing this guy play I have come to one conclusion that no one else seems to agree with me on.

Gred Oden is not that good, in fact, he's not even the best player on his team! (See Mike Conley Jr.)

Throughout the course of the game, I heard the game's play-by-play crew refer to him as "dominating", a "freak", a "game-changer", and an "exception-to-the-rule". What has Greg Oden dominated at all this year?? He is 7'1", which makes him a mortal lock to be the biggest player on the court and his stat line reads 15.9 ppg 9.5 rpg 3.5 bpg. This isn't a bad line by any means, but dominating?! Has anyone seen Kevin Durant play? 24.9 ppg 12 rpg 1.7 spg 1.8 bpg 42% 3p. That is true domination at the college level.

I mean seriously, let me give you a list of five big men who were considered dominating players at the college level and you tell me who Greg Oden reminds you of most.

A. David Robinson

B. Tim Duncan

C. Patrick Ewing

D. Akeem Olajuwon ( Who knows how he spelled it then)

E. Michael Olowakandi (who knows how you spell it now)

The obvious choice is "E." Both Oden and the "Kandi Man" were the biggest players on the court, both lacked polished offensive games, and most of all they are both super soft. (on a side note, Olowakandi averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds his last season at Pacific). I know you can't teach 7'1", but you can't teach tenacity either, just ask LeBron James, version 20.07. As for defense, Oden is unequivocally the top shot-blocker in all of college basketball (not counting the top 15 shot blockers...which he's not one of).

I know, I know...Oden has been battling a right wrist injury that has been hampering his game all season. Does he jump with his wrists? Does he head fakes with his wrist? Does he get position with his wrists? Don't get me wrong, he's as ambidextrous as it gets. He's just as good at sitting on the bench with foul trouble, right-handed or left-handed.

I know that some lucky team is going to get the number one draft pick when all the ping-pong balls settle, and here's my advice to them. In an era where crappy coaches last two years, and crappy GM's last four, make it Kevin Durant, because Greg Oden will be good once you're fired.

Submitted by guest columnist Justin Welsh Continue Entry»

Poll Vault

COLUMBUS, OH - After losses to North Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone who would consider the Buckeyes the best team in the country. However, recent losses by UNC, Florida and UCLA have propelled the Buckeyes to a No. 1 ranking in the ESPN poll and the No. 2 spot in the AP Poll. While the Bucks have won 11 consecutive games, they've failed to beat a team yet this season currently in either top 25. This Sunday's battle against Wisconsin will likely decide one of the four coveted No. 1 seeds in the tournament, and a potential Big Ten crown (whatever that's worth this season). It'll likely be a tough ticket this Sunday at Value City Arena against the Badgers...I smell another "whiteout," yawn. Continue Entry»

I Didn't Order the F*%#ing Ham Sandwich

It's not every day that the Morgan State basketball program graces the pages of espn.com, but today was special. Head basketball coach Todd Bozeman stopped into a local restaurant called Mulligan's after a close battle against the 8-17 Longwood Lancers that resulted in a loss. Apparently, an unhappy and ready to explode Bozeman went ballistic on a waitress when he went to pick up food for the team and was given ham sandwiches. Now, I'm not sure if it was just the ham sandwiches that caused him to freak out or the fact that he just lost to a Lancers team that had its biggest wins of the season against: Virginias-Wise, Norfolk State, Shenandoah, Kennesaw State and High Point (and they also played Oklahoma tough in an 81-40 loss that was a lot closer than it seemed).

Restaurant manager Carlos Holland stated that Bozeman, "Just went belligerent, screaming that he didn't want ham sandwiches," and then grabbed and shook a female assistant manager. Holland later hammed it up (no pun intended) by saying "We had kids in here, nice and quiet eating with their families.....He's the head coach of a university, showing a bad example."

What's next for Bozeman? I don't know, possibly Iona but I doubt it. You really can't blame the guy. What goes unnoticed is the remarkable restraint that he has shown throughout the season. Some coaches might have gone overboard after a 102-76 loss to La Salle (9-14), but not Bozeman. He is a stand-up guy!

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Buckeyes Travel to West Lafayette

The #4th ranked Buckeyes shouldn't have their work cut out for them tonight at Purdue, they really shouldn't. But the way things typically go at Mackey Arena, you should fully expect Greg Oden to be saddled with 4 fouls with about 16 minutes to go in the second half. You see, road teams don't exactly "get calls," at Purdue. They do instead get a healthy dose of 6'8 untalented balding white guys who think knee pads are an essential basketball accessory.

Hopefully the Buckeyes get real creative with their offense tonight and decide to throw the ball around the key repetitiously until they get a contested long range perimeter jumper. That's the offense I would go with if I had a 7'1 athletic player who looks like he's playing against middle schoolers. We're not exactly sure Thad is a suitable x's and o's guy at this point, but we'll obviously take his recruiting as opposed to the last coach. Instead of recruiting McDonald's All Americans, Jim OBrien's idea of recruiting was bringing in guys that used to work at McDonalds. Literally - Nick Dials just sold me a Six-pack of McNuggets. Continue Entry»

Hold the Mayo

WEST VIRGINIA - Normally initiating contact in a high school basketball game is grounds for a personal foul. That is of course unless the guy on the receiving end is an official. USC signee O.J. Mayo is officially ready for the NBA. If getting expelled from one school, repeatedly taunting others, and getting forcibly removed from a high school game by law enforcement doesn't prepare you for the NBA lifestyle, I don't know what does. Fortunately he'll be headed to southern California, where he's almost certain to avoid distractions and stay out of trouble.
photo courtesy of latimes Continue Entry»

Greg Oden is Pretty Good

We finally found someone who believes in Greg Oden. Bill Livingston offers us his scouting report for the NBA hopeful (if all goes right). Among the interesting assessments in this coming of age analysis:

"Oden has the basics for low-post offense, including a drop step, a jump hook, and fire and brimstone dunks."

Clearly nothing gets past Bill Livingston, especially extra plates of food. Fortunately for Buckeye fans, Livingston sifts through all the usual garbage reporting to deliver a rather profound question that all others have apparently failed to ask:

"The question with Oden is when does he turn pro?

God we miss Roger Brown.

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OSU B'Ball Calls For White Out

COLUMBUS - Widely regarded as one of the most lifeless and sterile on-campus basketball venues in the nation, Value City Arena will play host to the nationally televised MSU/OSU match-up on Saturday. Only this time, the 19,500 unresponsive fans in attendance will supposedly be donning white. Considering the usual crowd at OSU, the middle-aged fans that take up the entire lower bowl don't need to wear anything different for the theme to take effect (I've seen more color at a college football coaching convention). OSU should probably go ahead and leave this gimmick to Penn State, a school that knows something about perfecting the craziness that should go hand and hand with student sections and home field advantages. Perhaps whine and cheese faithful we'll get really crazy and do the wave, or chant "air-ball," if the situation calls for it. Continue Entry»