The Halfcourt Trap Vol. I, No. 29

The Trap hits Sin City for the crucial Mountain West tilt between UNLV and San Diego State, before returning to Knoxville for the renewal of hostilities between Tennessee and Kentucky. Here are this week’s topics of hoops interest:

1. I have nothing against Brent Musberger. Steve Lavin is actually very good as TV analysts go. That said, their comparison of Kelvin Sampson’s plight to that of the Duke lacrosse players is one of the single most mindless things ever broadcast on the public airwaves. Being paid $750,000 to walk away from a job where you flaunted workplace rules as opposed to seeing your freeedom threatened and you reputuation destroyed by false allegations of heinous conduct. Yeah, those are equivalents. Mus and Lav should be issuing immediate apologies.

2. While I seriously doubt Rick Greenspan is going to ask my opinion, I would put forth that Sean Miller is the perfect choice for Indiana. Xavier is a program that has long had a pristine academic and compliance history. Also, I’m pretty sure the last coach to leave Butler for the Big 10 is doing pretty well.

3. A big win that was obscured by the epic 1 v. 2 battle Saturday was Oklahoma State’s upset of Kansas. Sean Sutton desperately needed a marquee win to calm his base. The cyber silliness regarding Bill Self or Billy Gillispie heading to Stillwater is an indication of growing unease. Upsetting the Jayhawks should help Sutton regain traction as he tries to develop a team with some elite young talent.

4. Arizona saved their season Saturday. The Wildcats’ win in Pullman puts them in a position where one win in their final four games will probably suffice for an NCAA Tournament bid. If the one win comes this weekend against UCLA in Tucson, a bid is guaranteed.

5. Coming out of a megahyped battle like Tennessee and Memphis participated in Saturday night, I’m always interested to see how the loser reacts. I always remember how Arkansas’ ubertalented ‘91 team never really seemed to regain their swagger after UNLV rolled into Fayetteville and strangled them. The first indication of any lingering effects on Memphis could come Saturday night. Larry Eustachy has Southern Miss playing very well and the Golden Eagles played the Tigers tough in both meetings last season.

6. Tennessee and Kentucky have engaged in a role reversal. This time, it’s the Vols in the #1 spot with the Wildcats scrambling to salvage their season. Bizarro World Alert is at Code Red. I would expect the crowd, which will be treated to the retirement of Ernie Grunfeld’s jersey, to be among the most rabid in TBA history.

Until next week, stay classy, Volnation.

Related posts:

1. The Halfcourt Trap 11/20
2. The Halfcourt Trap SEC East Preview
3. The Halfcourt Trap SEC West Preview Edition
4. The Halfcourt Trap
5. The Halfcourt Trap

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