by Ben Collins
I’ve got it: Baby Shaving Points. Wait…
– Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, all 65 names of his, almost singlehandedly thrust his team into the number two slot on Friday’s inaugural SLAM Top 10. He went 7-for-7 from the field and merited that scarily through-the-roof draft stock that he already has. Anybody else seeing a whole lot of Josh Howard in this kid? With the value on athleticism lately, 28 teams shouldn’t make the same mistake twice this time.
By the way, is there any way we can Dikembe Mutombo-ize this guy’s name? Didier Ilunga-M’Benga is a mouthful, so they just call him DJ.
L. Rick M&M isn’t too porn starry, is it?
Anyways, his team cleaned up tonight in the Maui Invitational against previously a undefeated Georgia Tech team that looked like a pretty good Top 10 sleeper. Thaddeus Young laid an egg, though, and they couldn’t really get back into it. UCLA got a nice surprise Michael Roll 3-point fiesta (he was on a roll! huh-ho!) and, along with L. Rick M&M, that Afflalo-Collison backcourt might force me to make a trip to… uh… West Virginia. That’s seriously how far northeast you go, UCLA? Get with it guys.
– I say UCLA is number 2 because UNC certainly isn’t. Well, not after last night’s 82-74 loss to Gonzaga where they had some serious completion issues in the NIT Tip-Off tourney semifinal on national TV . They got torched by Derek “don’t call me Adam Morrison’s sidekick” Raivio. The 6’3″ combo guard put up 21, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. That’s a rebound better than 6’8″ lottery hopeful Tyler Hansborough. (In summary, place Mbah a Moute near lottery; place Hansborough near deep fryer.)
I spent all of yesterday saying that young teams shouldn’t be ranked in the Top 10, but Gonzaga’s got that senior combo guard and a point guard with substantial tourney experience thing with Jeremy Pargo.
Plus, as ‘H to the izzo’ said in last week’s BabyLinks (after he called UNC the best team in the country, but we’ll give him a free pass):
“#2-Gonzaga-Why not?”
That’s my kinda attitude.
– Oh, after I just got done bashing the Tigers yesterday until I was no longer allowed back into the Franklin Park Zoo ever again, Memphis had a nice bounce back win against a physical Kentucky team. And I said they didn’t have any tenacity…
– Butler is 5-0 after taking out #21 Tennessee last night and man I wish I could pretend like I watched this game.
– Any more debate on the Top 10? List your own Top 10 Teams in the Nation below and you’ll make the premier list on Friday.
