Mark Few rips on WCC

[MU82]

On that same note, if you asked someone to name a former player or coach from Butler or Gonzaga, Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack and Brad Steven would all be mentioned before Kevin Pangos and Adam Morrison. Hell, Matt Howard may be mentioned before those guys.

Probably depends upon how old that fan is. A lot of them my age would say Stockton. And Adam Morrison was such a great college player and such a spectacular NBA failure that he'd probably be mentioned plenty!

Shelvin Mack? Really? Not saying he wasn't an outstanding college player, but you really think some college hoops fan from Chapel Hill, East Lansing or Palo Alto would answer "Shelvin Mack" if asked, "Name a great player from Butler or Gonzaga basketball history"?

Gonzaga has been to the tournament every single year since 1998 and now has made the last two Sweet 16s. Butler had an extraordinary run there under Stevens but has not had the sustained success Gonzaga has had -- few programs have.

Obviously, neither of us can "prove" anything. We each just have an opinion, and both have been duly noted.

[drewm88]

Probably depends upon how old that fan is. A lot of them my age would say Stockton. And Adam Morrison was such a great college player and such a spectacular NBA failure that he'd probably be mentioned plenty!

Shelvin Mack? Really? Not saying he wasn't an outstanding college player, but you really think some college hoops fan from Chapel Hill, East Lansing or Palo Alto would answer "Shelvin Mack" if asked, "Name a great player from Butler or Gonzaga basketball history"?

Gonzaga has been to the tournament every single year since 1998 and now has made the last two Sweet 16s. Butler had an extraordinary run there under Stevens but has not had the sustained success Gonzaga has had -- few programs have.

Obviously, neither of us can "prove" anything. We each just have an opinion, and both have been duly noted.

Agreed. I'd guess the typical order would be something like Brad Stevens, Adam Morrison, Gordon Hayward/John Stockton, Mark Few.

[Eldon]

Probably depends upon how old that fan is. A lot of them my age would say Stockton. And Adam Morrison was such a great college player and such a spectacular NBA failure that he'd probably be mentioned plenty!

Shelvin Mack? Really? Not saying he wasn't an outstanding college player, but you really think some college hoops fan from Chapel Hill, East Lansing or Palo Alto would answer "Shelvin Mack" if asked, "Name a great player from Butler or Gonzaga basketball history"?

Gonzaga has been to the tournament every single year since 1998 and now has made the last two Sweet 16s. Butler had an extraordinary run there under Stevens but has not had the sustained success Gonzaga has had -- few programs have.

Obviously, neither of us can "prove" anything. We each just have an opinion, and both have been duly noted.

If someone knows who Shelvin Mack is, and where he went to school, then that person is either: one of Mack's family members, a Butler fan, or a not-so-casual basketball fan.

In fact, the Shelvin Mack question is a good litmus test to see if someone is a casual fan:
-Person A: Do you know where Shelvin Mack played in college?
-Person B: Sheldon Macks? 
-Person A: Aren't you a rabid college basketball fan?
-Person C (to Person B): Enjoy that XXL Badger sweatshirt.  Here is your change, thanks for shopping at Kohl's

[Macallan 18]

Apparently Gonzaga's win over Seton Hall attracted the eye of the NY Times who are calling for a Big East, Coast to Coast.

As I watched Gonzaga, from Spokane, Wash., dismantle Seton Hall in the round of 64, I thought that basketball-centric Gonzaga — and its conference rival St. Mary’s, from California — would be a perfect fit in an expanded Big East.

http://nyti.ms/1R8VH0K

The article doesn't discuss travel for non-revenue sports, but proposes a Western division in the Big East of St. Mary's, Gonzaga, Marquette, DePaul and Creighton.

And for Fox Sports they could have a triple header schedule, East Coast game, Midwest game and West Coast night cap!

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Been to Spokane many times. i like the town but it is in the middle of nowhere and don't know what their commitment for other sports is. I agree it would be a logistical and monetary nightmare for other sports plus , the big one for me, the West Coast Division would suck for us.

[keefe]

I have mentioned this before but I ran into Bill Russell in a Bellevue Starbucks (he started a conversation because he saw I was on Scoop, actually, and brought up that Doc Rivers had his old job as coach of the Celts) and he said there was discussion about a western division of the Big East which would include his alma mater.

He didn't say that it might be nice....he said there was serious discussion with the Big East about a western division that would include GU, ST M, USF, and LMU. This was a few years ago but Russell told me then that he believed the basketball schools taking control of their own destiny was the right move but thought making the Big East national was its last best hope to maintain relevance. (At the time he said that he was involved in an internal USF study about how to return the Dons back to prominence but to do so without some of the issues that happened during their last stretch of glory.)

He said the current version of the Big East had a few marquee brands but it was generally regarded by legitimate basketball experts as a slightly better version of the Atlantic 10. According to him there would have been some muscle movement on this but the hang up had more to do with media contracts and distributions and so those involved agreed to keep the project warm on the back burner.

He did also say that the BE should get St Joe's into the mix, stay out of the South, and stay private. We'll see what happens but I am not convinced the Big East today will resemble anything like itself in a few years.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I thought REM said that.

See number 10 on the first list!

13 Sayings Only People From New England Can Understand
by Melia Robinson
    
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-england-sayings-2013-12


22 Surefire Signs That You’re From New England
Putting the rest of the country to shame since the 17th century.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/amdhit/22-surefire-signs-that-youre-from-new-england-3mws#.tr2rvBzxQ

[keefe]

See number 10 on the first list!

13 Sayings Only People From New England Can Understand
by Melia Robinson
    
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-england-sayings-2013-12


22 Surefire Signs That You’re From New England
Putting the rest of the country to shame since the 17th century.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/amdhit/22-surefire-signs-that-youre-from-new-england-3mws#.tr2rvBzxQ

"Bang a Uie" and "Make a Packie run"! I haven't heard those in years.

Another one was "Goin ta Dunks" for coffee.