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Who’s the best basketball team in the country?

Posted by Trips Right on January 7th, 2008 under Basketball

Reporter
Who’s the best.

Since no one can tell me who the best college football team is, let’s try another sport.

Is it UNC after a ballsy comeback win in overtime on the road at Clemson? They’ve got a great inside/outside one-two punch of Hansborough and Law, surrounded by uber-talented wing players like Ellington, Ginyard, and Green. They just strike me at this point as having too many chiefs and not enough Indians to be considered the best team in the country. Oh, and by the way, they hadn’t beaten anyone worth a flip until last night. They’re 4th on my list.

Is it UCLA? They’ve got two signature wins on the road at Stanford and at Michigan State. Their only hiccup was at home to an upstart Texas team in Collison’s first game back from injury. They’re probably the best coached out of the top 4 and will be one of the toughest outs in the tourney with the way they play defense combined with their offensive balance. Still, I don’t think they have enough shooters to punish a good zone team and you can’t ignore the loss. I’ll put them at 3.

Is it Kansas? They’ve been steamrolling everyone on their schedule with the exception of OJ Mayo’s USC team, where they escaped Southern California with a come from behind win in a low scoring 59 to 55 game. It makes you wonder how tough this team really is, especially when it goes against comparable athletes that are well coached. Remember the UCLA loss in the tourney last year? But my lord, they’re oozing experienced talent. If they can keep sharing the basketball, Self’s team might make a run. But, they’re still number 2 on my list.

Reporter
Chris Douglass-Roberts is the best scorer on the best team in the land.

I think Memphis is the best team in the country. Chris Douglass Roberts and freshman phenom Derrick Rose are the best backcourt in the nation. And they have a solid defensive interior that stymied a good Georgetown frontcourt. Players like Joey Dorsey who are great on defense and can score as well make them a unique team. Somehow Calipari has gotten all this talent to really get after it on the defense end, and share the basketball on offense. They have two really nice wins, kicking the crap out of a big defensive juggernaut like Georgetown and defensively smothering a offensively talented Arizona club. The thing I like best is that each individual on the team seems to know his role better than most teams with this much talent, so you don’t have to worry about options 2 and 3 shooting you out of games because he “feels it”. See Kansas and North Carolina. They’re my early prediction to win it all.

Others receiving votes: Washington State, Texas, Duke, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Georgetown.

Thoughts?

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9 Responses

  1. hiphopopotamus said:

    January 9th, 2008 at 7:23 am

    Perhaps you’re right that Memphis is better, but they are the FAR more likely candidate over Kansas to have someone shooting them out of a game. This is a problem the Jayhawks absolutely do not have (almost to a fault sometimes).

  2. HenryJames said:

    January 9th, 2008 at 8:46 am

    The Jayhawks could be a part time model.

  3. Trips Right said:

    January 9th, 2008 at 10:44 am

    hip, I’m not talking about Kansas being selfish, I’m talking about their roles not being defined enough to excel in a half court game against a good defense. One night Collins will lead the team with 13 shots, the next night it’ll be Rush, the next night Chalmers will have 15 shots, the next night it will be Arthur. The best example of of what I’m talking about is UNLV’s juggernaut. They rolled everyone and did it without a go to guy. Hunt, Anderson, Johnson, and Augmon really didn’t have defined roles, they would just go out and kill people. In the one close game they played in all year, they didn’t have a go-to guy to bail them out.

    As far as shooting teams out of games, I think UNC is far more likely to turn its back on Hansborough and jack the ball up on too many possessions. I don’t think Kansas knows who its number 1 option is and that was my point. I probably should have made that distinction instead of lumping them in.

    With Memphis it’s Roberts first and foremost, then Dozier, then Rose creating and scoring. The other guys collect trash buckets and put backs.

    Look, I’ve got Kansas at two. I’m just picking nits.

  4. hiphopopotamus said:

    January 10th, 2008 at 6:15 am

    Point taken. It’s perfect for the long haul but in a one game situation, it could be trouble. And even though I think Kansas is better, I’d have Memphis ahead of them as well, for now.

  5. rhymenoscerous said:

    January 10th, 2008 at 8:14 am

    Texas shouldn’t be anywhere near that list. Defense is much too spotty.

  6. mileslong said:

    January 10th, 2008 at 10:24 am

    the fight of the conchords references alone make this thread worthwhile…

  7. RansomStoddard said:

    January 12th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    Surely no one thinks Texas is top 10 material, much less number one. Good grief.

  8. D said:

    February 14th, 2008 at 8:08 am

    Chris Douglass-Roberts game is so smooth. Its so effortless for him to score.Dorsey is just a beast that nobody can stop. Rose is so quick it don,t make any sense. Stopping Memphis may be one of the hardest things to do.

  9. HenryJames said:

    February 14th, 2008 at 8:14 am

    Everytime I see that clip of Thomas Hill crying after Laettner’s shot against Kentucky, God flips Bobby Hurley’s SUV.

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