On The Plate ... 1/24/06

Lords of Hooptown

"The boy ran off to find him some Avian Bird Flu, Captain."

First, I don't have Avian Bird Flu, although I'm probably most apt to get it out of everyone I know. That's just how things seem to work with me. Two, I didn't have a heart attack, just thought I was rocking one. Three, I didn't have any major surgeries and, in general, my health is just fine despite being under the weather for a bit. My apologies for the alarm in last week's column. Nevertheless, it was good rapping with all of you who called/wrote. Maybe faking an extreme medical disaster ain't all that bad…you get to rap with some homeboys you hadn't talked to in way too long. So there that go.

Do you know who needs to catch a Hacksaw Jim Duggan-sized 2x4 across the crown of his dome? Doug Gottlieb, that's who? Why? After all of this weekend's activity, he still thinks that the Big Ten is a better conference than the Big East. And that's just straight up insane. The Big East is nastiness pie, no questions asked. The Big Ten is a formidable piece of pie. But nasty? Don't think so. Educate yourself...

1. After this week's events, how can anyone question the depth of the Big East? Unranked, and 3-2 in the Big East, Georgetown busts up Prince Redick and his formerly untouchable group of homos in the MCI Center. So what? So the Hoyas punished Shelden Williams in the paint, held him to a stat line of 4 points, 11 boards, 2 blocks, and 3 turnovers. To be frank, he was rendered useless by the front court Hoya Paranoia of Hibbert, Green and Bowman. And as I have said from Day 1 Adam-&-Eve-style, if you take Shelly out of the game, the Devils become 1-dimensional… settling for 3's without any inside toughness. Attacking the rim isn't an option for the Devils because no one can create off the dribble on Duke. Redick? Still don't buy it, Dicky V. Paulus? He created his way to a missed layup and game-ending turnover in critical moments of the Hoya game. Maybe Demarcus Nelson can because his name is Demarcus. But I'm not holding my breath. Get to the point, CSG, this is not a Duke bashing column…the point is that the Big East is bruising. And good. And deep. How deep, how good, how bruising? Deep, good and bruising enough to have Coach K, ex-Devil money Jay Bilas and "if you cut him open little Devils will come out of his veins" Vitale on bended knee in respect for what the Hoyas did. And in case you didn't know it, Georgetown is tied for 6th in the Big East. Boom.
2. Still working on the depth card…what about the resurgent Redmen from St. John's? (Yes, I still boycott "Red Storm." I'm telling you…the Native Americans are OK with it…it's the "America is the devil" folks that needed something else to bitch about that ruined this team's mascot. I loathe the "America is the devil" folks.) Two huge wins in one week and both at the Garden. Special. They punk hometown boy Pitino and then hand L #1 on old school Big East thug Pitt. What other conference is showing this kind of "make you earn it every night out" prowess. The Big Dime? F no. Sorry, I don't think the biggins in the Dime get anxious when heading to Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue or Minnesota. At least not this year. The ACC? Please. Everybody's always anxious because nobody is any good. (Edgerrin James' spirit may have just entered my body and written the prior sentence.) The Big 12 and SEC haven't earned my good favor to even enter this discussion at this point.
3. Does any other conference have the very legitimate potential to send three teams to the Final Four? Nope. No other conference has the heavyweight trio of UConn, 'Nova, and WVU. I think that Michigan State is the best team in the Big Ten, and I'm not sure they belong in the same sentence with the three aforementioned squads. At least not yet.
4. My boy Doug Gottlieb's big argument against the Big East is "How good is Syracuse?" Well, Doug, how good is Wisconsin? The last time I checked consecutive L's to UConn, at 'Nova and at Pitt carried a little more weight than a home loss to North Dakota State. Don't get me wrong, I love the Bison. Scope the new tattoo the next time you see me. It says, "The Bison shop at Kohl's."
5. Didn't the ACC win 6-5 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge? Ouch. Tough to hold up a Big East versus Big Ten argument with that gross little feather in your Big Ten cap.
6. In the newest AP poll, aka the only poll worth looking at because the Coaches' poll is a joke, there are 7, yes 7, Big East teams in the Top 25 to the Big Ten's 5. Interestingly, and hilariously, Louisville remains #22. Why is this interesting and hilarious? Because Louisville is 1-4 in the Big East. The only other team to maintain its Top 25 status with a losing record in any other major conference is Boston College who currently sits at 2-3 in the ACC. I don't disagree with the AP voters. Although U of L has lost 4 conference games, I still think that they are, as they showed in a close game versus UConn on Saturday night in Freedom Hall, a very talented team. That being said, I think Rick's Cards will be on the outside of the Top 25 looking in if they drop Big East game #5 to Cincy on Wednesday night at home. Respect at 1-4 in the conference usually means that your conference is pretty money. Please correct me if I am wrong.
7. Let's go Top 7 from each conference…Big East - UConn, 'Nova, WVU, Pitt, Georgetown, Syracuse, and Louisville versus Big Ten - Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. Could Michigan or Iowa beat any of those Big East teams? Could they beat Marquette, Cincy or St. John's in MSG? I'm shaking my head east to west.

Look, I know the season is young. And I know I just shouted a bucketload of Big East noise that really didn't make sense with a lot of ball left to be played. Obviously, things can change. But after a weekend in which a conference was so obviously dominating not only on the scoreboards but also in the buzz in the air, I find it hard to imagine how someone could challenge that domination when a second conference has yet to come close to employing that kind of stranglehold on the hoops world thus far this season. That's why, folks, as of today, the Big East ballers have stated their claim as the Lords of Hoopstown until someone knocks them down. And I've got their back. Obviously.

(If this half-assed column doesn't generate some emails, then I know that I only have about 8 readers. Mailbags are back in style. For God's sake, my boy Ivan Maisel apparently had one during the football season. If you email it, mailbag postings will come.)

Games worth a damn this week…

1/24 - Indiana at Iowa (the Hoosiers shouldn't lose, Iowa is not that good) ; 1/25 - Maryland at Georgia Tech (game 1 for the Terps sans that mutt Chris McCray) , Cincinnati at Louisville (Cards pushing 1-5 in the Big East?), St. John's at UConn (3 in a row for the Redmen? Unlikely, but worth a tune-in), BC at UNC (a BC W gets them to .500 in the ACC with 10 games to go, a UNC L sets them back to .500 in the ACC with 10 games to go) ; 1/26 - Duke at Virginia Tech (rematch from the Sean Dockery experience).

Final shot…

I don't think Kobe could score 81 on the Huskies.