2014-15 Pac-12 MBB

[Bison]

Given that the World Cup is over and NBA Free Agency is cooling down, I thought why not get started with the upcoming MBB season?

 

First of all, some bad news for Cal fans.  Rooks is probably out for this coming season due to tearing his knee up.

 

 http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2014/7/3/5869187/kameron-rooks-tears-acl-2014-15-season-in-doubt

 

UCLA is planning a new $40 million practice facility for MBB.

 

http://www.bruinsnation.com/ucla_basketball/2014/5/22/5743280/ucla-basketball-after-pauley-renovation-debacle-guerrero-begs-for-more

 

CU gets a transfer from Providence.

 

http://www.ralphiereport.com/2014/7/2/5865699/providence-transfer-josh-fortune-heading-to-play-for-boyles-buffaloes

 

Golden State could be Wildcat fan's NBA team to follow.

 

http://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketball/2014/7/14/5899345/arizona-basketball-******-kerr-warriors-luke-walton

 

For other teams, I'm going to get caught up with yours.  I even have put some sites on my favorites bar so it should be easier for me to fetch stories.

[Bison]

Question: Anyone recall those weekly threads from last season?  I plan on taking that up again this upcoming season.  Does anyone want to have those weekly threads all in this thread this upcoming season or continue with the weekly threads?

[EastCoastFan]

This is going to be a year of six "haves" in the Pac-12, and six "have-nots."  Unlike the last couple of years.  Half the league suffered too many losses without enough experience returning.  The top half either has serious experience and skill, or an in-flow of undeniable mega-talent.

[RogueDuck]

Even after all the loses this off season, I expect UO will surprise and be a 22+ win team again.

[Bison]

This is going to be a year of six "haves" in the Pac-12, and six "have-nots."  Unlike the last couple of years.  Half the league suffered too many losses without enough experience returning.  The top half either has serious experience and skill, or an in-flow of undeniable mega-talent.

 

Who would those teams be?

[Bison]

Even after all the loses this off season, I expect UO will surprise and be a 22+ win team again.

 

Dana Altman is an excellent coach so I wouldn't be surprised to see UO hit that mark again.  I'd say UO is one of those six "haves" of the PAC as DTF talked about those six "haves" and six "have-nots".

[Bison]

http://pachoops.com/2014/06/recruitment-to-draft-efficiencies-a-study-studied/

 

I like that PAC Hoops blog network and it appears to be a good one even if the person who runs that site is a Mildcat fan.

 

I'm not sure how the PAC compares to CU's former conference when it comes to the NBA Draft but everyone who has heard me talk about the basketball comparsions would recall that I believe the PAC is the better conference over the long run.  CU has had some players drafted over the years but it appears to me that the rate of CU players going to the draft is higher as a PAC member compared to CU's Big 8/12 days.

[All Hail]

http://pachoops.com/2014/06/recruitment-to-draft-efficiencies-a-study-studied/

 

I like that PAC Hoops blog network and it appears to be a good one even if the person who runs that site is a Mildcat fan.

 

I'm not sure how the PAC compares to CU's former conference when it comes to the NBA Draft but everyone who has heard me talk about the basketball comparsions would recall that I believe the PAC is the better conference over the long run. CU has had some players drafted over the years but it appears to me that the rate of CU players going to the draft is higher as a PAC member compared to CU's Big 8/12 days.

Why do you attribute that to the conference and not to the guy recruiting those players? I think a more logical position is that CU has a better coach, who is better a recruiting NBA caliber athletes.

 

The Pac 12 has 51 players in the NBA while the Big 12 has 33. The ACC -- who now has 15 members in it's basketball conference -- has 67.

[KUGRDON]

Wouldn't all or almost all the Colorado players going into the NBA while Colorado was in the Pac have been recruited when it wasn't?

[Bison]

Why do you attribute that to the conference and not to the guy recruiting those players?  I think a more logical position is that CU has a better coach, who is better a recruiting NBA caliber athletes. 

 

Boyle has done a good job in recruiting and obviously knows how to develop future NBA talent.  But only time will tell if he really has played that big of a part in CU's turnaround.

 

CU has had NBA players in the past (including a NBA Finals MVP) but not the coaches or even the facilities.  I think the practice facilities built right next to the Keg really has played a huge part in CU's basketball renassiance.  CU was at a disadvantage in the Big 8 and Big 12 since at times, if there was a volleyball game going on at the Keg, both basketball teams had to practice at local high schools or rec centers.

 

In the Big 8 (and 12), Kansas was usually the top dog in that conference along with solid teams from both Oklahoma schools along with Texas but the gap between the haves and have nots was bigger in that conference than the Pac-12 (and I'd say Pac-10 too).  The competition in the Pac-12 appears to be stronger and I believe the NBA looks more favorably towards players from specific conferences.

 

Recruiting is also better in the Pac-12 compared to the Big 12.  CU wouldn't have gotten the recruits they got if they were in the Big 12.  CU is also beating their former conference mates when it comes to recruits in Texas as well (Andre Roberson (now with the Thunder) and Dustin Thomas comes to mind).

 

CU simply had the right coach, new facilities, and new conference at the same time and it just has gone very well for the Buffs.

 

Larry Scott did have a monster slam dunk with CU and Utah in basketball.  I think it's debatable whether basketball has benefited more in the PAC going from 10 to 12 members compared to football.

[Bison]

Wouldn't all or almost all the Colorado players going into the NBA while Colorado was in the Pac have been recruited when it wasn't?

 

Surely Chauney Billups comes to mind but I do not belive the other CU players from the Big 8-12 era came from Colorado.

 

Even Coach Boyle was a Coloradoan out of Greeley who went out of state to play at Kansas.

 

As it stands, it appears to me that there will be more Coloradoans going into the NBA in the not too distant future.  Josh Scott, Donminque Collier (true frosh this year), and Wesley Gordon would be good bets to go.  Xavier Johnson (JR from CA) and possibly Dustin Thomas (SO from TX) could be several more future NBA players.  High school basketball seems to be on an upswing in CO as well. 

[KUGRDON]

Gee whiz, its hard to make sense out of some of your posts.

[All Hail]

Boyle has done a good job in recruiting and obviously knows how to develop future NBA talent.  But only time will tell if he really has played that big of a part in CU's turnaround.

 

CU has had NBA players in the past (including a NBA Finals MVP) but not the coaches or even the facilities.  I think the practice facilities built right next to the Keg really has played a huge part in CU's basketball renassiance.  CU was at a disadvantage in the Big 8 and Big 12 since at times, if there was a volleyball game going on at the Keg, both basketball teams had to practice at local high schools or rec centers.

 

In the Big 8 (and 12), Kansas was usually the top dog in that conference along with solid teams from both Oklahoma schools along with Texas but the gap between the haves and have nots was bigger in that conference than the Pac-12 (and I'd say Pac-10 too).  The competition in the Pac-12 appears to be stronger and I believe the NBA looks more favorably towards players from specific conferences.

 

Recruiting is also better in the Pac-12 compared to the Big 12.  CU wouldn't have gotten the recruits they got if they were in the Big 12.  CU is also beating their former conference mates when it comes to recruits in Texas as well (Andre Roberson (now with the Thunder) and Dustin Thomas comes to mind).

 

CU simply had the right coach, new facilities, and new conference at the same time and it just has gone very well for the Buffs.

 

Larry Scott did have a monster slam dunk with CU and Utah in basketball.  I think it's debatable whether basketball has benefited more in the PAC going from 10 to 12 members compared to football.

 

Both Burks and Roberson were recruited when Colorado was in the Big 12 so I don't quite understand your examples.  It's a lot easier to recruit in Texas when you're in the same conference as a bunch of Texas teams as well as Missouri when you're in the same conference as Missouri.  What current NBA players has Colorado recruited while they've been a member of the pac 12?

[Bison]

Both Burks and Roberson were recruited when Colorado was in the Big 12 so I don't quite understand your examples.  It's a lot easier to recruit in Texas when you're in the same conference as a bunch of Texas teams as well as Missouri when you're in the same conference as Missouri.  What current NBA players has Colorado recruited while they've been a member of the pac 12?

 

Roberson was recruited just before the Buffs left for the Pac-12.  He had to know that CU was possibly switching conferences at the time and he still went to CU.  His sister also plays for the Lady Buffs as well.

 

I'm not sure if Burks would have came to Boulder if CU wasn't in the Big 12 since he was from the Kansas City area.  He did seriously consider coming back to CU for the first Pac-12 season but when it was pretty certain he was a first round lock, he left town.

 

Spencer Dinwiddle is CU's first Pac-12 recruit who is in the NBA.  He was drafted in the 2nd Round by the Pistons just recently.  He wouldn't have came to Boulder if it wasn't for the Pac-12. 

 

Scott will probably be the next NBA player.  Asiska Booker might slip into the NBA but I think he's D-League/overseas bound after his senior season in Boulder this upcoming season.  Gordon and Johnson might make it to the NBA.  Collier is said to be possibly CU's first one-and-done player...it's all speculation here.  Under Boyle, it appears to me that CU will most likely produce more NBA guards and small forwards with a few power forwards or centers as well.

[KUGRDON]

 

CU has had some players drafted over the years but it appears to me that the rate of CU players going to the draft is higher as a PAC member compared to CU's Big 8/12 days.

 

Jalapeno, you posited that the rate of players going to the draft is higher now than when Colorado was in the other conference.  Then you said Colorado has just one NBA player drafted since joining the Pac.  I guess what you meant is it might be higher than it was.  I doubt that the rate of players Colorado puts in the NBA is totally unrelated to either the Pac or the other conference affiliation.

[Bison]

Jalapeno, you posited that the rate of players going to the draft is higher now than when Colorado was in the other conference.  Then you said Colorado has just one NBA player drafted since joining the Pac.  I guess what you meant is it might be higher than it was.  I doubt that the rate of players Colorado puts in the NBA is totally unrelated to either the Pac or the other conference affiliation.

 

Sorry for the confusion.  CU has had players go to the NBA even before I was born.

 

It appears to me that CU will have sent more players to the NBA out of the Pac-12 in five short years compared to the last 20-25 years of CU's time in the Big 8/12.

 

Conference affilation does matter not only in football but basketball as well.  CU has no problems recruiting kids out of the west coast for football but since the conference switch, there appears to be more west coast basketball players heading to Boulder but I'll have to do some serious past research to confirm that.

 

I still believe CU's new practice facilities have made the most difference in CU's basketball fortunes.  Having both coaches with strong Colorado connections doesn't hurt either.  CU should be very competitive in basketball for awhile.  This is not an attempt to minimize the success of Boyle in Boulder or Linda Tharp's success for CU's WBB team.

 

I don't think CU had this much program stability since the 1960's and it's a great thing to have in light of the slump that football is currently in.

[All Hail]

How come Utah's basketball program hasn't gotten much better?  If your premise is true and Colorado is getting more NBA talent than ever before mostly due to their change from the Big 12 to the pac 12 than simple logic would dictate that Utah would have an even greater surge in NBA athletes as they moved from a far worse conference to the pac 12.

This is why I believe Boyle, and not the pac 12, is the reason for Colorado's uptick in NBA talent.  As we've already discussed, the majority of the NBA talent recruited under Boyle occured while Colorado was still in the pac 12. 

[KUGRDON]

Sorry for the confusion.  CU has had players go to the NBA even before I was born.

 

It appears to me that CU will have sent more players to the NBA out of the Pac-12 in five short years compared to the last 20-25 years of CU's time in the Big 8/12.

 

Conference affilation does matter not only in football but basketball as well.  CU has no problems recruiting kids out of the west coast for football but since the conference switch, there appears to be more west coast basketball players heading to Boulder but I'll have to do some serious past research to confirm that.

 

I still believe CU's new practice facilities have made the most difference in CU's basketball fortunes.  Having both coaches with strong Colorado connections doesn't hurt either.  CU should be very competitive in basketball for awhile.  This is not an attempt to minimize the success of Boyle in Boulder or Linda Tharp's success for CU's WBB team.

 

I don't think CU had this much program stability since the 1960's and it's a great thing to have in light of the slump that football is currently in.

 

No apology needed.  I'm not the one that is confused. 

[Bison]

No apology needed.  I'm not the one that is confused. 

 

Surely not dazed as well?

[Bison]

http://www.slamonline.com/college-hs/college/dominique-collier-colorado/

 

Article on CU's Collier.

 

Boyle stated that CU got an early start to the 14-15 season after Dinwiddle went down but at the same time CU was 9-9 without the current Detroit Piston on the court.