Hoop Thoughts

Ranking Reaction and a Press Conference for the Ages

The new AP and Coaches Polls that were released earlier today and some of the things in them caught my attention:

*- Pitt is back at number one. This is great and I will never complain about that, but I agree with the Panthers that I would rather they hold that ranking April 7th than Feb 23rd.

*- Five, count them, FIVE Big East teams in the Top 10 in the AP rankings. No other conference has five teams ranked except the ACC (five in top 23). Please, no more debates on which conference is the best, the numbers speak for themselves.

*- Duke and UCLA are perfect examples of teams that get by on their name and not by what they do on the court. UCLA has lost 3 of 4 including a home game to Washington State (14-13, 6-9), yet still find themselves ranked and Duke has lost four of their past seven in conference play, but is still in the Top 10. How is this possible?

Finally, the question that people all over Pittsburgh are asking and I would hope al over the nation. How did anyone cast a 1st place vote for UCONN after losing at home to Pitt? It happened in both polls. The AP has 72 votes, 69 votes went to Pitt, 2 to Oklahoma and 1 to UCONN. The Coaches poll has 31 voters, 30 voted Pitt in the top spot and the remaining vote went to UCONN. I am going to try to break this down logically. UCONN and Pitt have identical records (UCONN has one more conference win). Pitt has lost twice this season, both in conference on the road, and both to teams ranked in the Top 10 (in the AP, Villanova is 12 in the Coaches). UCONN also has lost twice, both at home and one of those teams is now barely above .500 and hoping to get it’s way in to the NIT. Yeah voting UCONN #1 makes complete sense. Coaches polls are not released to the public but after doing some research I found that Matt Stout, the UCONN beat writer for the Norwich Bulletin has a vote for the AP. I am guessing he was the one that voted for the Huskies ahead of Pitt. I will keep the Rant Readers updated as I continue to follow up on that.

PRESS CONFERENCE HALL OF FAME NOMINATION
Is there anything as entertaining as a grumpy old man whom, just because they are so old and “experienced,” think they know everything and nothing anyone else says will change their mind, especially when these old men are standing at a podium with microphones everywhere. Press conference meltdowns and blowups happen all the time.

For whatever reason it seems like college basketball coaches do this more and better than anyone else. Here are some classic that you should remember. You had John Chaney threaten to kill John Calipari after a game in 1994. Jim Boeheim and his season prediction of having to play without Gerry McNamara. Of course, anytime we compile a list of great press conference moments with angry old men Bob Knight has to be included. Enter Jim Calhoun, UCONN basketball coach. He has had some great pressers in the past. I like the Ryan Gomes one particularly. This weekend he struck again, when asked about his salary and the state deficit. Take a look:


I absolutely loved this on so many levels. First of all, the fact that he knows where the guy is going and interrupts his question with the comment, “not a dime back.” Classic. Let me also say that I agree 100% with Calhoun on this. He brings in much more money for the state and university they he is getting back. He is worth every penny he makes. I also love his comment, about making more then the $1.6M the reporter said he makes. No matter how you feel about his team, Jim Calhoun is a great sound bite, always!