Dr. Rolle
Finally some good news out of the Florida State Seminole football program. Safety Myron Rolle is putting the NFL on hold and hearding to Oxford work on his master in medical anthropology as a Rhode Scholar. “How do you like them apples?”
Rolle is projected to be a 2ndor3rd round pick this season. And he realizes that waiting until next years draft would more than likely drop his status. But Rolle is unfazed about his decision to head back to the classroom.
Here is a quote from the espn.com article;
“I want to be a neurosurgeon,” Rolle told ESPN’s Joe Schad in November. “And I want to help impoverished nations build up their vaccination programs. I think in many poor countries, vaccination programs and mental health programs are wrongly pushed aside.”
Knight Watch
The last couple of evenings Sportcenter has featured a new segment called “Knight Watch”. Former coach Bobby Knight “breaks down” some of the best in college basketball. He took a look at Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and Davidson’s Steph Curry. Tonight will be the Duke Blue Devils after their game against Georgia Tech.
I watched the bits on Griffin and Curry, and this segment is crap. Plan and simple. I understand trying to use Coach Knight more and showcase his “expertise”. But it is unreal.
Knight highlighted some interesting film clips, showed Griffin’s athleticism and then made the “expert” analysis that the Sooner stud is “the best sophomore in the country”.
Are you kidding me?
The next evening, Knight declares Curry the best passer in the nation. WHAT? Now, I will say Curry is a better passer than many give me credit, but that is what the legendary coach comes up with.
Griffin is the most physically dominate player in the country right now, period. Regardless of class.
Curry is an all-around great player and is second in many POTY races. But I am not sure I would call him the best passer in the country.
I have not seen the Duke segment, but I suppose tonight Knight will call Duke’s offense “good” and their defense “defensive”. And that the Duke away uniforms are intimidating. Or some random crap.
I have long thought Knight was passed his prime and is not relevant in college basketball and ESPN has unintentionally exposed that truth.
Gerald Henderson
On January 10th the Duke Blue Devils beat the Florida State Seminoles 66-58. Nothing too exciting there.
What was exciting? Gerald Henderson scored a career high 25 points, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals. My hope is that this is the start of something beautiful. My fear is that this was a fluke.
Henderson has bever been a great shooter, but he was 9-for-14 from the floor, 3-for-4 from distance and 4-for-6 from the foul line.
Keep it going Gerald. UNC and WF are coming soon.
The Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are ranked 17th in the country and are in a tied for 2nd in the Big-Ten. They have beat Louisville, Ohio State andgave a boost to the Big-Ten in this years challenge with the ACC.
Tubby Smith has turned this program around faster than anyone – including myself – thought possible.
The Gophers are balanced on offense and in your face on defense. A good deal of the sucess has to be attributed to the progression of point guard Al Nolen. The 6’1″ sophomore is steady with the ball in is hands and harasses the ball defense. His stats are a microcosm of what make this team go.
8 pionts, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals per game.
According to Bigtennetwork.com, The Golden Gophers hold their opponents to 59 points a game, 38 percent shooting from the floor and 33 percent from distance. The Gophers score 72 points a game, shoot 47 percent from the floor and 37 percent from distance.
The Gophers also grab the 2nd most offensive rebounds in the conference with 14.8 a game and are third in total rebounds with 40.5.
The Gophers have a tough match-up at Wisconsin tomorrow evening (1/15).