My Thoughts Immediately after the National Semifinals.

1. John Calipari is one of the elite coaches in college basketball. He has been to 5 final fours, and three Championship games. If you are one of those that believe he is not elite. Then you should check yourself into the nearest psychiatric facility to you.

2. Kevin Ollie is a rising star - You can tell that his players love to play for him, and IMO his adjustment of going to 5 guards was the difference in the game. It will not be long before NBA teams will be wanting him.

3. Deandre Daniels is the guy who made himself the most money during the tournament. - I had never heard of this guy before the tournament now he is a projected Lottery Pick. A 6”9 Stretch 4 that has crazy athletic ability is a nice commodity in the NBA.

4. Wisconsin played one of the best basketball games I ever saw…. And Lost - The Badgers shot %46 from the Field %40 from the 3, went 19-20 from the line and had only 8 turnovers. In my entire lifetime of watching basketball I have never witnessed a game where I felt the Loosing team was the best team on the floor.

5. If Kentucky wins the title it will be the greatest run to the title ever. They beat a good Kansas State team in the first round, an Undefeated Wichita State Team, in the 2nd the defending Champs and Runner ups in the Next two and then a number 2 seed Wisconsin in the Final Four. Before the tournament people talked about the Midwest Region being the toughest bracket ever and Kentucky Outlasted them all and is now playing for the Chip.

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5 Players who made themselves money during the NCAA Tournament

This is a big draft everyone knows about the top of the list but what about the guys who are using the tournament to make a name for themselves. 

1. Kyle Anderson  - The more and More I watch Kyle Anderson the more I start thinking he could actually steal the #1 pick spot. I honestly feel that most GM’s would prefer to have him then some of the more hyped Freshman. His skill set combined with the success that Michael - Carter Williams has been having makes him an attractive choice for the top spot. I really think that a few teams sitting around the middle of the lottery will actually be happy to have him fall to them.

2. Adrean Payne - At the beginning of the season I thought he had a chance to play in the League. Now I see him being a solid contributor right away for a playoff team. I think where he goes is extremely important because he works better as a second option type player.

3. TJ Warren - I am conflicted about Warren, on one hand the guy can flat out score, but I kind of feel like I’m watching a Anthony Bennett clone here. He shoots it well, but his range is only to the college 3 and he doesn’t really have a post game, some team will fall in love with his numbers though.

4. Cleanthony Early - He is nice, I feel like he is one of those guys who is going to better in the L than college. I see how Wichita State went undefeated for so long. He was a beast all year and in the Kentucky Game he was the best player on the floor on a floor full of pro’s. He had 31 in the game, and they never went to him once the game got under 4 minutes.

5. Xavier Thames - He’s going to play in the League for sure. On the low SDSU has been producing players the last few years, Kawi Leonard, Jamal Franklin to name a couple. He already has a NBA type game. I don’t think he will ever be a regular rotation guy, but he will carve out a 4 or 5 year career.

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My Bold Predictions For this years NCAA Tournament.

It's Christmas for basketball fans. March Madness has started, and I want to give you some predictions that will help to keep your bracket from busting. 

Tony Bennett will become the hottest coaching commodity in College Basketball- He is the son of a coach and one of the 5 best coaches in the game today. Don’t believe me? This is the same guy that turned Washington state into a winning basketball program nuff said.

 Kentucky will either lose to K-state or get hammered by Wichita State - I really hope they play Wichita State. This team has underachieved all year. The Harrison twins are and always have been over rated.. They play selfishly, and as individuals, and when they run up against a team that plays together and unselfishly they are going to get a hard lesson in winning basketball 101. For all the pros that people think they have, the reality is that besides from Julius Randle, the rest of these guys will be on a basketball Milk Carton in the next 3 years

St Joes will advance to the sweet 16 and Phil Martili’s Grandson is going to become a superstar overnight. - If you are not a hardcore basketball fan then you probably haven’t seen this. Phil Martili is the head coach at St. Joes but his grandson is the star. He mimics his grandson when he is on the sideline, he wears a suit and tie, and has the exact same mannerism’s as his grandpa. I have a guy feeling that we will be seeing a lot of this kid this weekend.

People will be shocked how good the Atlantic 10 is - The talk all year was which conference was better, Big 12 or Big 10, IMO the Atlantic 10 is just as good as both of them. They got 6 teams into the tournament and I believe that St Joes, VCU and Dayton can make a serious Final Four run.

Bryce Cotton Vs Marcus Paige is must see T.V - Neither one of these guys is considered a lottery pick, however it is my opinion that they have had the two best seasons by PG’s. They meet in a first round match - up in the East Region

14th seeded ULL will bust someone’s bracket - This is my upset special. ULL has talent, McDermott might be the name that everyone knows, but Elfrid Payton is the NBA star in this game. They will battle Creighton all day and with a little luck they will pull off the upset.

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The Dunk of the Year

5 athletes from different era’s that I wish played today.

1. Randall Cunningham - He came along to early. In today’s game with the Pistol offense and the Zone Read Randall Cunningham would be the Ultimate Dual Threat. A faster version of RG3 combined with a Laser arm. In his day coaches were still hung up on 3 yards and a cloud of dust. With today’s wide open spread offenses he would be pretty much unstoppable.

2. Isaiah Thomas - I am still made about a comment that I heard earlier in the year stating that Jason Kidd had a better Career than Isaiah Thomas. In his prime Zeke was un-guardable 1 on 1, was money from 18 and in and made everyone on his team better. In today’s NBA without hard fouls and where he wouldn’t have to worry about getting his head bashed in by the likes of Karl Malone, Zeke would be putting up a cold 30 and 10 a night book it.

3. David Thompson - The main reason that he is on this list is because I am hoping that he manages to stay clean in this era. The man was an absolute freak of nature. A 6’4 shooting guard with a however high I need to go Vertical. He should have won the first Slam Dunk Contest against Doc. I today’s game his above the rim style would flourish.

4. Lynn Swann - Did they even have Slot Receivers in the 70’s? I just imagine every team lined up in 2 tight with a fullback halfback and 2 ends. Did you know he only had 51 career TD’s it feels like half of them came in the Super Bowl. He would be perfect in today’s game with 3 and 4 wide sets allowing him to get free underneath on quick pick and rub routes.

5 Greg Maddox - Seriously if all these guys were on steroids and he wasn’t he was a serious Bad Ass. Maddux dominated the mid to late 90’s at the height of the Steroid Era. He finished with a 3.16 ERA and 355 total wins. Can you imagine what his numbers might look like if he wasn’t facing contestants from the 1988 Summer Olympics every game?

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Next Blog: Why Wichita State has no shot at winning the National Title

Your South Strip Poker Destenation (Luxor Poker Room Review)

Luxor recently moved their poker room closer to both the sports book and the self parking entrance. I think this will prove to be a good move on their part as the location of the room should provide the game with a few new players who wander in from the book, or bar. When these players do get there what they will find is tough 1-2 game made up of local grinders. Even though it is located on the strip, the game at the Luxor is a favorite of regulars. On most nights the room gets about 2-3 games, it helps that they also run small buy in tournaments throughout the day. If your staying on the South end of the strip, this is your place. The likely hood of getting a game going when you walk in is over %90. The Weekend action can be great as well as provide a nice view of the club - goers headed out to LAX. I do really like the staff here as they do a good job of informing you about promotions as well as schedules and structures of daily tournaments. Their daily tournament is a turbo, but it does include 20 minute blind levels which is a nice change of pace from some of the other daily’s . Luxor is also home to some of my favorite dealers, Francis and the guy that looks like John Fox. When provoked they can be pretty entertaining and they contain a wealth of knowledge about Vegas Poker History. They received a 5 from us on our Poker rating scale. Overall Luxor is probably one of the more under valued poker rooms in town. However when most people do visit what they get is a great game and amazing atmosphere.

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The Gold Standard (Golden Nugget Review)

                                                                       

                                                                   Rate the Golden Nugget now!                                               The Golden Nugget is home to perhaps the best nightly run 1-2 game in the world. The no cap buy in makes a huge difference. Once the game gets going, and players start getting busted, the stack sizes become large. New players are almost forced to buy in for 200 - 300 bb stacks. The daytime game is very good but at night is when the freaks come out. The three best 1-2 games I ever played in took place at the Nugget. and they all happened at night. The proximity to Freemont street (AKA “Freak show Central” ), brings in a variety of local characters and drunk tourist. The poker room cocktail service is also the best in town, receiving 5 stars on our Poker review system. It doesn’t hurt that the bar is located right next to the poker room. The waitresses are attentive and come around about every 5 minutes you can set your watch to it. Daily tournaments are run here everyday, and the Sunday Morning 5k guarantee is the best value tournament in town. The cash games are 1-2 NL and 2-4 Limit games, but as I mentioned earlier the 1-2 game is insane and features a No Cap buy in. Guarantee that the Friday/Saturday night game plays like a 2-5, and on the right night it could play like a 5-10. Love this place and believe that it is one of the most undervalued properties in the world.                                                                                                                                                      

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