Early Season Stock Watch

In honor of Dick Vitale and college basketball being superior to the NBA, here is my early season stock up and stock down.

Stock up:

Missouri- Missouri has rolled through early season competition with an athletic team featuring an extremely up-tempo offense.  Marcus Denmon and Kim English make up one of the most dynamic backcourts in the country, combining for 40 a game.  The Tigers rank 6^th nationally in points scored, 14^th in assists, and 7^th in field goal percentage.  Missouri and Baylor, another team off to a hot start, have made perennial powerhouse Kansas look like the third best team in a conference it historically dominates.

Virginia- The Cavs have begun to flourish in Tony Bennet’s third year in Charlottesville.  Led by Senior big man Mike Scot averaging a near double-double, UVA is off to a hot start in non-conference play.  In their only game against a ranked opponent, the Hoos beat Michigan handily, limiting star Tim Hardaway Jr. to 5 points.  A Virginia opponent has yet to score 60 points in a game, a testament to the stout defense this team is playing.

Tu Holloway- The Xavier point guard has perhaps been the most impressive player in the country so far.  Averaging 17-4-5, Tu has done it all for the X-men.  More importantly than his per game averages, Tu has come up huge in the clutch in close wins vs. Purdue and Vanderbilt.  Look for Tu to carry his team to a 2 or 3 seed and potential deep tourney run come March.

The Missouri Valley Conference- The race for the MVC should be one of the most exciting conference battles in the country.  Creighton has emerged as the early favorite, led by All-America candidate Doug McDermott, scoring at a clip of 23.7 a game.  Not far behind, Northern Iowa, Indiana State, Wichita State, and Drake are all off to strong starts. Keep an eye on the MVC, as they could get as many as four bids come Selection Sunday.

Harvard- The Crimson are being talked about as potentially the best Ivy League team ever.  They feature balanced scoring under Coach Tommy Amaker, and have scored nice wins over Florida State and UCF.  While they were outclassed by UConn, they showed the ability to knock off a few teams in the tournament with their disciplined team play and outstanding shooting.  Watch out for Harvard to follow Cornell’s lead and march to the Sweet 16.

Stock down:

UCLA- The Bruins are off to a humiliating 2-5 start.  Star Reeves Nelson has clashed with Ben Howland, Josh Smith is fat, and UCLA’s only wins have come over Pepperdine and Chaminade.  In all likelihood this will be Ben Howland’s last season in Westwood, a harsh reality following leading the Bruins to three straight final four appearances.  The start to this season has been a complete humiliation to the Bruins.   With Nelson now off the team, the Bruins must come together as a team and rebound to salvage the season and their coach’s job.

The rest of the Pac-12: UCLA is not the only team off to a bad start out west.  The conference is without a win over a top 25 opponent, and there is no clear favorite to win the title.  Stanford is the only team that has exceeded expectations, off to a 8-1 start.  It could be another rough year for Pac-12 basketball, which should end up a 2 or 3 bid league.  

Villanova- Villanova has fallen a long way since starting the season in the preseason top 10 .   The Wildcats needed overtime to take down Big 5 rival Lasalle, and have lost 3 of their last 4 to St Louis, Santa Clara, and MIzzou.  Jay Wright is one of the best coaches in the country, but he may lack the talent and experience to contend in the always tough Big East this year.

The NBA- I’m not going to write a column about the NBA, but I felt I had to express my displeasure somewhere.  Just as we were getting over the lockout and getting excited for basketball, the owners screwed the fans over yet again by vetoing the Chris Paul trade.  Love or hate the Lakers, the season would have been more exciting if Chris Paul was wearing the purple and gold.  The selfishness of the owners is continuing to hurt the league even after the mess of the lockout was finally cleaned up.  Unbelievable.