Maui Invitational

One of the great things about Thanksgiving are all the college basketball games on TV throughout the week.

My favorite is the Maui Invitational... the fact that I was able to go with the Hoosiers back in 1998 and sit right behind the bench for 3 games in a gym smaller than my High School gym could be a small reason.

Some observations from watching 3 days of games on ESPN.

Chaminade - 0-3 with losses to MSU, Maryland and Kansas. They stayed with MSU for a half as well as Maryland, but the lack of talent showed in the second half of both games as they ultimately lost badly in all 3.

Kansas - 1-2 with losses to Arizona and Arkansas before beating Chaminade. I bet Bill Self is wishing his recruiting classes at Illinois were at Kansas right now. Talent level seems way down this year. They are young and a tourney like this might be just want Self needs to get the team pointed in the right direction for the rest of the year. If not, the B12 could be a rough one this year for the Jayhawks.

Arkansas - 1-2 with losses to UCONN and Maryland and a win over Kansas. Stan Heath has a team that he wants to run and gun with. Ronnie Brewer is the guy that makes Arkansas go. Watching this team reminded me a lot of what Davis and IU is trying to do. By pushing the ball at every turn, they turned the ball over way too much and took bad shots at key moments in the Maryland game leading to the loss. Can't say I will try to watch any of UA's games this year.

Maryland - 2-1 with a loss to Gonzaga and wins over Chaminade and Arkansas. Typical Gary Williams coached team. Athletic, but seem to be a bit young and undisciplined early. 20+ turnover average in 3 games... ouch! Ibekwe looks like he could be a leader inside while Caner-Medley looks lost, or he was just looking for NBA scouts who will now be looking the other way. Gary will have them straightened out by the time the ACC gets started and there is enough talent on this team that they might be able to give Duke a challenge at College Park.

Arizona - 1-2. A win over Kansas, followed up by losses to UCONN and I've never been a fan of Lute Olson and his decision this year to hire a former NBA assistant to install a new "NBA" offense of "Pick and Roll" and "Pick and Pop" just solidified that I will NOT be watching any Arizona games. That is some ugly basketball. But the best were the MSU fans at the end of the MSU/UA game when an Arizona player called Time Out when they didn't have one. The MSU fans started chanting "Webber! Webber! Webber!" OUTSTANDING!!

Michigan State - 2-1. A win over Chaminade and Arizona and a Loss to Gonzaga. Wow... maybe the best game in the history of the Maui Classic last night with Gonzaga. 3 OTs, neither team fell further than 3 points behind in the last 35 minutes. Both teams hit clutch shot after clutch shot. Both teams hit free throw after free throw. It was a game worthy of March. And both teams will be playing deep into March if that was any indication. Paul Davis will be a load and Ager could be the B10 Player of the Year. Despite a couple of early losses, this is a team that will be competing for the B10 title.

Gonzaga - 2-1. Wins over Maryland and Michigan State and a close loss to a STRONG UCONN team paint a bright forecast for the Zags this year. Adam Morrison could be the next coming of Larry Bird. He had 43 pts against MSU and every point was within the offense. Not a bit of one on one garbage. I haven't been a huge fan of Mark Few due to some crazy bench decisions he's made in recent years in the NCAA Tourney, but last night he made all the right calls down the stretch and this will be a fun team to watch this season.

Connecticut - 3-0. Wins over Arkansas, Arizona and Gonzaga prove that this is a team worthy of being ranked #2 or #3 in the country. Calhoun has a ton of talent and while I'm not a fan of the style they play, he gets the most out of that talent. Seeing what they do in Bloomington in February will be interesting. If IU played UCONN right now, they wouldn't have a chance.

Ahhhh... I can't wait to go back to Maui. The sun, the sand and the basketball is calling my name. The barefoot bar at the Hula Grill... I'll be back soon.