Fabulous Frosh

Much has been made of the 2 star freshman in college basketball this year, we all know their names. Everyone has been on the Greg Oden bandwagon since he was in high school. He's probably the 2nd best thing to ever come out of Buffalo, NY, right after the Gus Macker. My buddy Jim could come up with a list of about 20 of the greatest things that he believes all originated fromBuffalo, which would include the wings(correct), hot girls(maybe correct), Labatt Blue(incorrect), pizza(yes he really believes that) but definitely not Greg Oden. The other precocious freshman, Kevin Durant, has been the Bill Simmons' pet prodigy since the season began. I don't think you'll find many arguments that these 2 have been the most impactful 1st year players since Carmelo took Syracuse to the national championship.

What hasn't been discussed nearly enough is the impact that so many other freshman in the nation have had. Off the top of my head, Mike Conley Jr., Brandan Wright, Ty Lawson, and Taj Gibson are all on teams still playing in the tournament and have arguably had a bigger impact in college than Oden. Durant has been on another level this entire year, but is he head and shoulders above Brandan Wright as an NBA prospect? 6'10 small forwards that can go off the dribble and have range like Durant are very, very rare. But as Sports Guy was so quick to criticize Rick Barnes for not posting Durant up against USC, maybe it was Durant that was hesitant to go inside. Obviously the immediate comparison for Durant is Kevin Garnett, but I see a lot of Lamar Odom in him as well. This is not a bad thing, and I'd love for him to end up on the Celtics. But is he really that far advanced, that any team should even consider taking him instead of a possible franchise center? Looking far into the future I see the draft shaping up as Oden, Durant at 1-2 and some variation of Wright, Horford, Noah, and Julian Wright following. It reminds me very much of the Lebron, Darko, Melo draft. Three "franchise" guys at the top, followed by pretty good players named Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. Let's throw Darko out of that mix. Lebron and Oden are two of the most hyped prospects of all time, Durant and Melo had very similar freshman years. Bosh was a freshman star, just like Wright but overshadowed by another marquee freshman. Noah and Horford are proven college guys who either could possibly have gone #1 in the draft last year. So while everyone is hoping to get the #1 or 2 pick in this years draft, I think the #1 is that much more valuable. Oden and Lebron are rare players that come along once every 5-10 years. The gap between Oden and Durant's pro potential, is much greater than between Durant and B. Wright and even Horford or Noah.

Some weekend picks:

Butler will make a run against the Gators, thanks to Smurph Baggins' second favorite player left in the tourney, AJ Graves. Contrary to prior comments, Graves and Smurph Baggins bear no facial resemblance. In fact, once again for anyone that missed the comments earlier in the week, Smurph Baggins looks strikingly similar to the man dubbed "Brad Pitt with a jump shot", Nate Funk. Anyway, Butler falls by 10 because the Gators make their foul shots in the end.

Oregon beats UNLV because I love Aaron Brooks and that this is everyone's upset special. I expect Brooks to outplay Kruger and if he outplays Taurean Green in the Elite 8 matchup, the Ducks could be the surprise Final 4 entry.

In the other games tonight, UNC will take care of USC. And GTown will beat Vandy. And I'll go with a Final 4 prediction of GTown, Fla., OSU, and Kansas.

Randoms:

Matt Schaub to the Texans tells me a couple of things:

1. Brady Quinn is gonna go in the top few picks. If the Texans thought he would still be there, then this trade never would have happened.

2. Petrino better be the offensive genius he's made out to be if he wants to win with Vick at QB. I don't think he is.

3. The Texans will still suck. Can anyone name me someone from their offensive line without looking it up?

As I'm finishing this up OSU is getting killed before halftime. Nice Final 4 picks Smurph.


I just want to let everyone know I'll try and post my thoughts on the OSU-Tenn. game if I have time later today. Just an unbelievable game, with huge shot following huge shot. By far the best game of the tournament.