Charlotte, I love you

Charlotte has become my new favorite NBA team, and not for the fact that I grew up in North Carolina. I know they were just swept and totally over-matched by Orlando, but Bobcats fans made me damn proud to be a Tar Heel last night.

The reason?

If you watched the game, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Every single time JJ Redick touched the ball, he was booed like Kobe was when he played in Denver back in 2004. You would have thought Redick murdered some Charlotte natives by the way the crowd gave him the business last night. It reminded me of my time in the student section at Carolina, when Redick received his fair share of words that I can't mention here, or risk my mother flying to Florida and pulling me by my hair and taking a switch to my rear end. But, even though Charlotte is out of the play-offs and that pansy flopper is still playing, I'm happy to say that four years after he left Duke, North Carolina still hates JJ Redick.

Is Calipari bad for college basketball?

It's a question that I've been racking my brain about over the past few weeks, especially after Kentucky was smoked by West Virginia in the NCAA tournament. The issue is the incredible number of one-and-dones that he's coached over the past few seasons. The kids that have turned pro after one season of playing for Calipari since 2008 are Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, and Daniel Orton. Keep in mind that Bledsoe and Orton haven't officially signed with agents, so they may return to UK for another season. But that's highly doubtful considering the influx of protential one-and-done talent that Calipari has again filled his roster with, namely Brandon Knight, Enes Kanter, and Doron Lamb. Calipari may still have signatures coming in CJ Leslie and Terrance Jones. Knight, Kanter, Leslie, and Jones all have the talent to declare for the draft after the '10/'11 season ends. But, is this whole process bad for college basketball?

Coming from North Carolina, I am a college basketball purist. I grew up in the southeastern part of that state, which is fully entrenched in college sports. My hometown is about four hours from Charlotte, so it's difficult for me to relate to professional sports. Therefore, I believe that college sports are sacred, and I'm sure that this has a lot to do with my views on Calipari and his methods. First off, I understand that college athletes are the D-I level generally have the goal to play professionally in their chosen sport. It's the same as a kid who goes to school to one day have a job in a chosen field. And, it's difficult to blame a basketball player for turning pro early in order to make millions, because I know that if some chemical company had offered me a multi-million dollar contract after my freshman year of college, there is no chance I would have attended another class at Carolina.

But, I digress.

I know I'm being hypocritical here by criticizing the one-and-done rule, but I love my college basketball, and I think Calipari consistenly recruiting players that have the idea of turning pro after one season is bad for NCAA hoops. One reason is that Calipari has won nothing as a head coach. Sure, he owned C-USA for years at Memphis, and he won the SEC this season. But, in terms of the national stage, he's only made two trip to the Final Four, and has ZERO national titles to his name. Also, he's left smoke at UMASS and Memphis in terms of NCAA violations. Another reason is the increased chance of NCAA violations following some of these players. Who would be more likely to have hangers-on in their camp, Derrick Rose or Tyler Hansbrough? John Wall or Kyle Singer? All four players are supremely talented, but nearly everyone knew that Rose and Evans were gone, while Hansbrough and Singler may both end up being four year players. John Calipari has essentially become a babysitter for the NBA. He makes nearly $4 million per season to have an NBA holding tank. He's the highest paid recruiter in the world, with little substance as a head coach. Does anybody honestly think that Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, Coach K, or any other elite coach couldn't have won the national title with the roster that Calipari boasted this season?

Overall, I believe that Calipari doesn't care about winning. He cares about "nurturing" NBA talent for a year, and then stocking his cupboard again during the next recruiting period. Calipari was the person that leaked Patrick Patterson was going pro before Patterson had even announced his decision. Why? Because with Patterson gone, Calipari had an opening that he could fill with another five-star recruit. A pretty dirty ploy, but again, look who we're dealing with. Sure, you can say that he is playing by the rules, but it still doesn't make it right for someone who loves college basketball.

UPDATE: This isn't necessarily related to Calipari, but it is related to the risk of recruiting one-and-done players. Josh Selby, who committed to Kansas last night, is driving a Mercedes. In a NY Times story, it mentioned that Selby's mother's last two jobs have been at McDonald's and K-Mart. Explain to me how a single mother working at either McDonald's or K-Mart can afford to buy her son a Mercedes.

Oh yeah, Calipari heavily recruited Selby. Bill Self better make sure this one has no skeletons in his closet.

Try not to laugh out loud....

...but Marcus Ginyard won the third Defensive POY award of his career at the Carolina basketball awards banquet. If this award was based on the media, then maybe Ginyard wins the award since he's been deemed a "great" defender since his sophomore year at Carolina. I was personally hoping that John Henson would take the award, with the number of blocks that he piled up with increased minutes after Ed Davis' injury. But, other than Henson's blocks, Carolina played zero defense all season, so maybe the award should have been wiped-out altogether.

Other award winners were:
MVP - Deon Thompson (chuckle)
Most assists - Larry Drew II
Highest field-goal % - Ed Davis
Highest free throw % - Will Graves
Scholar-Athlete - Tyler Zeller
Most Improved - John Henson
Most inspirational player - Justin Watts


The most inspirational player award also made me laugh, since Justin Watts has been rumored to be transferring. Maybe he was so inspirational because he's the one with the right idea! Sorry, I'm still bitter about this season.