Jay Bilas Top 68 Teams Jan 7th

[TempoFree]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10251804/arizona-wildcats-top-jay-bilas-ranking-68-best-teams-college-basketball

"57. Marquette Golden Eagles (Previous ranking: 48)

The Golden Eagles have lost only to good teams, but with such poor perimeter shooting, Marquette puts a lot of pressure on its solid defense to get stop after stop. If Marquette were not so proficient on the offensive glass, wins would be even harder to come by."

I was somewhat surprised to see that Bilas still had MU in the top 68

[slack00]

I'm not surprised when you look into it.  Bilas ranks top 68, as opposed to bracketologists who find the 68 that will make the tournament.

MU's 6 losses are to teams he ranks 4, 6, 20, 23, 34, and 56.

He has MU ranked 57.

MU has a win against #58 and all other games are wins against unranked teams.

This is actually one of the most rational rankings I've seen.

[keefe]

Bilas is one of the very best covering college hoops. His comments, as usual, are concise and accurate.

[Coleman]

Bilas is one of the very best covering college hoops. His comments, as usual, are concise and accurate.

+1

Bilas (and Schulman, when they would broadcast together) is probably the thing I miss the most about leaving ESPN

Fun fact...Bilas is a lawyer, and went to Duke Law

[keefe]

Fun fact...Bilas is a lawyer, and went to Duke Law

neither of which I hold against him as his insight easily overcomes those blemishes on his resume

[Windyplayer]

Bilas is a lawyer

There's a reason why he's thorough and concise.

[Tugg Speedman]

There's a reason why he's thorough and concise.

Through and concise has nothing to do with being a lawyer.  If anything law school worsened these abilities.

[Windyplayer]

Through and concise has nothing to do with being a lawyer.  If anything law school worsened these abilities.

Eh, I see what you mean, but I disagree. Those formalities taught in law school begin to fall by the wayside the more experience you get, but you retain thoroughness and hopefully become a more effective communicator in the process. Anyway, the convo needs to go no further. I'm already sorry I brought it up--through no fault of your own.

[mu03eng]

Eh, I see what you mean, but I disagree. Those formalities taught in law school begin to fall by the wayside the more experience you get, but you retain thoroughness and hopefully become a more effective communicator in the process. Anyway, the convo needs to go no further. I'm already sorry I brought it up--through no fault of your own.

LAWYERED!  Drink!

[Eldon]

How the hell did he end up as a basketball analyst?  Did he do some type of sports law or is the job market for lawyers that bad?

[mu03eng]

How the hell did he end up as a basketball analyst?  Did he do some type of sports law or is the job market for lawyers that bad?

He got his law degree while he was an assistant for Coach K.  Left there to go do play by play for TTWL.  Was a player for Duke as well in the Lattner years.

[Coleman]

Bilas received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1992. He is currently Of Counsel to the Charlotte office of Moore & Van Allen, where he maintains a litigation practice.[7]

Bilas most notably worked on the case Lyons Partnership v. Morris Costumes, Inc., where he successfully defended the costume business against trademark and copyright claims brought by owners of the popular children's television character, Barney the Dinosaur.[8]

[Tugg Speedman]

Eh, I see what you mean, but I disagree. Those formalities taught in law school begin to fall by the wayside the more experience you get, but you retain thoroughness and hopefully become a more effective communicator in the process. Anyway, the convo needs to go no further. I'm already sorry I brought it up--through no fault of your own.

Scare part is you actually believe this drivel.

What's the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of sh!t?  Answer, the bucket

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Bilas is one of the best, no doubt.

[Eldon]

Bilas is one of the best, no doubt.

Yea, I gotta say that one of the things that I like about Bilas is that he seems to think before he speaks.  Unlike someone like, say, Van Gundy, who regularly makes asinine comments.  A lot of what Bilas says is substantive and not simply drivel to fill up airtime.

[keefe]

Bilas is one of the best, no doubt.

OVER MY DEAD BARNEY!

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

You clearly miss the point.

[barfolomew]

Bilas most notably worked on the case Lyons Partnership v. Morris Costumes, Inc., where he successfully defended the costume business against trademark and copyright claims brought by owners of the popular children's television character, Barney the Dinosaur.[8]

That explains his empassioned position on the O'Bannon lawsuit.
I don't follow too many people on Twitter, but Bilas is one of them. He's a pretty funny dude at times.

[LloydMooresLegs]

That explains his empassioned position on the O'Bannon lawsuit.
I don't follow too many people on Twitter, but Bilas is one of them. He's a pretty funny dude at times.

+1.  Now, I gotta go to work.

[Lighthouse 84]

Scare part is you actually believe this drivel.

What's the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of sh!t?  Answer, the bucket

Just curious heisen, what do you for a living?

In case you don't answer, I'll take a guess. Your job entails you asking people if they want fries with their order.

[MU82]

Bilas is excellent. If one lined up all of the analysts in all sports, he'd be very near the front of the line. While Raftery was yelling out his dopey catchphrases, I'm guessing Bilas was thinking, "Could you please shaddup so we can enjoy this game with some dignity?" Bilas would never admit to that because he, unlike me, is too nice!

I actually am encouraged by him ranking us that high. As another poster pointed out, this doesn't mean we're anything close to tourney bound because so many lower-ranked schools will get in with automatic bids, but it gives hope. We need to get a few wins against those ranked ahead of us, though!

[keefe]

Bilas is excellent. If one lined up all of the analysts in all sports, he'd be very near the front of the line. While Raftery was yelling out his dopey catchphrases, I'm guessing Bilas was thinking, "Could you please shaddup so we can enjoy this game with some dignity?" Bilas would never admit to that because he, unlike me, is too nice!

I actually am encouraged by him ranking us that high. As another poster pointed out, this doesn't mean we're anything close to tourney bound because so many lower-ranked schools will get in with automatic bids, but it gives hope. We need to get a few wins against those ranked ahead of us, though!

I agree that his opinions carry more authority than any other analyst today. Still, the greatest color commentator ever was Al McGuire. And in many ways his impact on the game and the audience he reached was far greater in his TV role than it was as our coach. Everyone cites the 1979 Magic-Bird title game as the defining moment of NCAA basketball's arrival. But Al played a pivotal role in solidifying the game's popularity in the mainstream. His unique jargon and sly putdowns of Billy Packer were pure gold. A remarkable personality.

[MU82]

I agree that his opinions carry more authority than any other analyst today. Still, the greatest color commentator ever was Al McGuire. And in many ways his impact on the game and the audience he reached was far greater in his TV role than it was as our coach. Everyone cites the 1979 Magic-Bird title game as the defining moment of NCAA basketball's arrival. But Al played a pivotal role in solidifying the game's popularity in the mainstream. His unique jargon and sly putdowns of Billy Packer were pure gold. A remarkable personality.

Loved Al as a commentator almost as much as I loved him as a coach!

[keefe]

Loved Al as a commentator almost as much as I loved him as a coach!

An unranked Marquette played #10 Duke at their place on a 1980 Saturday afternoon and Al was calling the game. As the clock ticked off the closing seconds of a Marquette victory Hank came over to the broadcast table and high-fived Al. Al, oblivious to the live mike, congratulated Hank with some choice words more commonly heard in a barroom than over the NBC airways. Al was one of a kind. And he was genuine.

Here is the box score from that game. O Lee with 24 and Byrd with 21. Backcourt was Michael Wilson with 10/7 and Worthen with 15/8. Man, could you imagine those two starting for us today?

http://goduke.statsgeek.com/basketball-m/games/boxscore.php?gameid=19800210

[Lighthouse 84]

I don't remember who else was on that team, but did you notice only 5 guys playing, with the exception of Artie Green and Dean Marquardt playing a few minutes each?   How would that go over nowadays?