Happy Monday Evening Cougar Fans!
After watching last night’s Oregon and Oregon State game, I have come to the conclusion that this league is completely bipolar. So far no team is superior than any other, and the only “doormat” in the league is currently the Huskies. But the Dawgs won’t be the cellar dwellar all year, seeing that Pac 10 basketball is like this girl from college who was known rather fondly as the Lurker at my fraternity house.
You could find her any Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, as she would creep up and down the halls of the house Lurking with the goal of finding her next victim. Some nights, she would pick off one of the top guys in the house and some nights she would grab the least attractive guy with absolutely zero game. It was like picking names out of a hat for her, and so far that is how the Conference of Champions looks to me.
If I were a day trader, here is how I would treat the stock of each team.
Sell:
Oregon: Hard to see this team maintaining long term success over the rest of the reason. Could just as easily be 1-2 in conference play.
Stanford: As Landry Fields goes, so goes this Stanford squad.
USC: After starting off the conference slate with a bang, the school’s self imposed sanction won’t be anything other than a distraction the rest of the way.
Arizona State: Even though they just trashed both Washington schools, I just don’t see this team continuing their torrid shooting the rest of the year. I watched both their games over the weekend, and they really don’t look that impressive. They rely too much on the three ball and their zone defense, that I think teams will have better dissected for the second half of the season.
Buy:
Washington: I cannot see the Dawgs finishing in 10th Place. With 6 of the next 8 games played at home including Seattle U, I see nothing but improvement for them. That being said, I think they need to buy into Bill Simmons’ The Secret. Too many people playing for their own numbers on this team, without sacrificing their own numbers and minutes for the long term success of the program/team.
Arizona: The Wildcats are young, athletic and well coached. That Williams kid is absolutely explosive, and if he can stay out of foul trouble, he should contend for at least 2nd Team All Conference. Jamelle Horne and Nick Wise are also dangerous.
Hang On To: Washington State, Cal, UCLA, Oregon State
Over on Weekly Watch, http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/notebookweeklywatch0908/week-8 ESPN scribe Andy Katz says this could currently be a one-bid conference come March. Well, I think it will be a two bid conference because I believe the winner of the Conference will not take home the Pac 10 Tournament. Right now, I will not eliminate any team from conference or conference tournament contention. How can you when Oregon State, who was beat by record fashion last week at the hands of lowly Seattle University, just knocked off the 1st Place Oregon Ducks? In Eugene no less, where the Beavs hadn’t won a basketball game in their previous 15 + attempts!
As Longball recapped earlier today, http://www.wsufootballblog.com/2010-articles/january/my-team-is-on-the-floor.html hopefully this was a learning lesson for our young squad of Cougs. It sounds like there were some disciplinary issues for Capers and Casto, and Coach Bone was making an attempt to assure these don’t rear their ugly head in the future! One thing I would like to add to Longball’s recap is that the Cougs don’t match-up very well against the Zone Defense. We looked pretty confused in both the OSU and ASU games. That being said, we already have two of our four conference games played against the Zone defense; with remaining games at Oregon State and in Pullman v.s. Arizona State.
Other than that, I’m disappointed to hear Quayshawne Buckley is not enrolled at WSU, and instead will be headed to Corvallis in March. Will Clayton, Long, Kooyman, Spitz, Rankin and Co. miss him too? Oh yeah, and it’s official, Pete Carroll is coming to Seattle. Are NCAA sanctions coming to USC? Let’s just say this, if their was a bet on www.sportsbook.com, I would imagine it is something like USC –675. Meaning for every $10 you bet they were to be sanctioned, they would pay you $0.325!
Have a great Monday night, and check back later in the week as I should have a recap after attending the Stanford game!
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