straight ballin’

The stagehands may have settled their strike, but the theaters can stay dark, because the best show on Broadway last night was a remake of the War of The Rose, starring OJ Mayo. Or at least that’s the way it was billed, as super hyped freshmen sensation OJ Mayo and his pack of Trojans (ribbed for her pleasure) faced off with Derek Rose and the stud packed Memphis Tigers in a marquee showdown for the ages. Sadly, the two super studs seemed to cancel each other out and the Tigers were able to win a sloppy overtime win.

However, this is not to say the game wasn’t enjoyable. In fact, we were quite pleased in the beast lair where we have always held a soft spot for John “Refuse to Lose” Calipari. In fact, we don’t think a John Calipari team has had this much talent since Marcus Camby was getting fists full of cash handed to him under the table at a McDonald’s in 1996. Quite simply, Memphis is stacked. The team goes at least eight or nine deep into the rotation. They have two killer guards in Rose and Douglas Roberts, and a solid big man corps led by Joey Dorsey who already has Ben Wallace’s number, body, and game (sadly he inherited Big Ben’s offensive game).

Which is not to say USC is lacking in firepower either. Besides Mayo you have Davon Jefferson, who looks really good, Mayo’s backcourt mate Daniel Hackett, and Taj Gibson down low. For all you draft nerds out there last night was a veritable showcase of potential lottery picks with Rose, Mayo, Jefferson, Dorsey, Douglas Roberts and Gibson all locks for the NBA in the next couple years.


Punch me in the nuts baby!

As for the showcase match up, Mayo shut down Rose for the first half cold, just killed him as USC seemed to hold in the entire Memphis attack, with the exception of Joey Dorsey who was keeping the team in the game with his defense and Robert Dozier (another potential NBA player) who kept hitting big shots. The Trojans played a triangle and two zone defense on Rose and Douglas-Roberts, a brilliant coaching move by Tim Floyd and played to perfection by Mayo and Hackett (who looks like the next Delonte West). Did you ever think we’d say brilliant and Tim Floyd in the same sentence? It just goes to show you that the NBA can be a cruel place for college coaches. The strategy worked as Memphis’ high scoring combo was held to only two points by the half.

However, in the second half the Tigers kept picking away while absorbing some haymakers, including a couple of spectacular plays by Davon Jefferson, who I just love and think is going to be an awesome player. Rose and Douglas Roberts eventually got off the snide too and by the end of the half Memphis looked like it would secure the win. However, it being a very sloppy game, both teams combined for 42 turnovers, added to Memphis’ woeful foul shooting allowed SC the chance to win it just before regulation. Sadly, Hackett couldn’t hack it and the game went into overtime where we were treated another salvo of “Oh baby” shenanigans by Dick Vitale. Just a side note here, I know Jimmy V. was a great inspiration and all but is he to blame for this bald headed hyena Dick Vitale polluting my television set. I mean he spoke for ten straight minutes without taking a breath during halftime.

Overtime was more slop than pop and Memphis eventually outlasted the Trojans who really didn’t have a shot after Mayo went cold from the field, he finished shooting 6 for 20.

Overall though, I can truly say that college basketball is improving thanks to a blatant act of collusion on the part of the NBA and NCAA. If you get a chance watch Memphis play this year because they’ll be there in March and USC looks to improve. I’d have to give the slight edge to Mayo in the battle last night because his defense was sick and his passing was very nice. However, he missed some big time shots in the end of the game that he has to convert if he is truly supposed to be the next great player. Derrick Rose looked flat all night and that’s not a great sign, but you can see he is a superb ball handler and playmaker. He’ll be one hell of a player someday.