Zach Turner
It would be tough to find a more bitter basketball fan than me.
College basketball’s regular season has been underway for a week and I am thankful I have already witnessed the dunk of the year (provided by UCONN’s Jeremy Lamb. Watch out Michael Sanchez when Arkansas travels to face the Huskies on the road Dec. 3).
For that I am thankful, however, the professional realm of the sport is still in a repetitive limbo called the lockout.
ESPN’s coverage of the NBA scene for the past few months has turned from something of substance to the same images being flashed on the screen with the words seeming as if they are now just saying, “blahblahblah.” With the latest deal rejected by the players and the season now highly unlikely, I am as depressed as Tiger Woods is not getting to come home to Elin Nordegren anymore.
Although the bright spot of mid-November is college basketball starting, the lockout is killing the other part of my fanhood making me bitter. I sit and watch my favorite professional team, the Dallas Mavericks, continue to get older and older. As this may be old news to most, they are the reigning NBA Champions and to see this happen during the season they are supposed to defend that first ever title just eats at me.
Instead of watching Dirk Nowitzki light dudes up for 30-plus points, Tyson Chandler swat weak shots in the paint and young guys like Roddy Beaubois and Dominque Jones get experience, I have to resort to the thought of the second-oldest team in the NBA last season having their biological clocks tick a little faster.
Enough on my brief rant about the Mavericks and NBA, though. On to the college realm of basketball and my three bold predictions for the 2011-2012 campaign.
- 1. Arkansas will win 20 games but not 25.
Arkansas has high expectations from its fan base this season, coach Mike Anderson’s first. The Razorbacks have four highly-touted freshman.
However, with those high expectations, will the wins satisfy?
Looking through the Hogs slate for the upcoming season and predicting SEC Tournament and postseason success, I see the Hogs having a solid, but not spectacular season in Anderson’s first year and finishing 23-12.
Arkansas will be a changed team than in the four years past under coach John Pelphrey where mid-major teams always had a chance when playing the Hogs. No more losing to Morgan State, East Tennessee State and South Alabama in consecutive games.
The Razorbacks lose to Oakland or Houston, but will be 6-1 heading to their farthest game of the season in Hartford, Conn., where they will get throttled by one of my preseason Final Four favorites and defending champion UCONN Huskies.
This game will resemble last year’s 79-46 loss at Texas – a game nobody remembers because Arkansas was playing Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. Get used to hearing the name Andre Drummond this season college basketball fans.
I feel as if the Razorbacks will learn a lot from the beat down about themselves and rebound to go on a seven-game win streak heading into conference play with a 12-2 record.
Arkansas will capture its first SEC game of 2012 against Mississippi State at home in Fayetteville on Jan. 7.
Arkansas will be 14-4 entering the last nonconference game of the season, hosting a ranked Big 10 opponent for the first time since the early 1980s in a ranked Michigan Wolverine squad.
With a mid-afternoon tip and on national television, look for the home court advantage to help propel the Razorbacks over Michigan for their best win of the season.
Arkansas will then have 12 games remaining and will win half, with three losses coming at home to Vanderbilt, Alabama and Florida.
The Razorbacks will win one in the SEC Tournament.
Arkansas gets an NIT bid in 2012 and mimics its success in the SEC tournament by winning the first and being bounced in the second to finish out Anderson’s first season 23-12.
- 2. Marshawn Powell will be Hogs leading scorer AND rebounder
Powell is coming off a dismal season in 2010-2011, but seems to be one of the most optimistic guys on the team this season. The 6-foot-7 forward says he is in the best shape of his life and is looking forward to benefitting greatly from coach Anderson’s style of play.
With a starting lineup not set in stone with just one game having been played, Powell looks like the only mainstay.
Look for the third-year Razorback to see his numbers right around 14 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game.
- 3. Kentucky will be last team standing.
Now in his third season as Kentucky’s coach, John Calipari has gotten the Wildcats closer and closer to a title each year. This season will be the one to finally give the most polarizing coach in college sports his first ever national title.
Kentucky returns sensational sophomore Terrance Jone,s along with savvy swingman Darius Miller to compliment the nation’s No. 1 ranked 2011 recruiting class, a unit that is well-rounded at each position.
Kentucky will take the ultimate prize from ACC giant and preseason No. 1 North Carolina, a team with the most talented roster in nation by far. The Wildcats and Tar Heels will have to knock off the Syracuse Orange and Florida Gators to get to the championship, however, but at the end of the day it will be the mastermind of recruiting, Calipari, cutting down the nets.
Zach Turner is the assistant sports editor for The Arkansas Traveler. His column appears every Wednesday. Follow him on Twitter @zwturner.