Since we all know the Lakers are the new champions, it’s time to look forward for next season.

And as far as the coming 2009 NBA Draft is concerned, the Los Angeles Clippers are the big winners of the NBA’s 25th draft lottery, moving up from the third-best chance to earn the top pick. Memphis will be second and Oklahoma City will pick third.

With the result now at hand, Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin appears to be the consensus No.1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Griffin, who led the nation with 30 double-doubles and 14.4 rebounds per game while also averaging a Big 12-best 22.7 points as a sophomore, might be the best option for the Los Angeles Clippers as they can dispatch the services of expensive power forward Zach Randolph and try the rebuilding process once again.

Sure, the Los Angeles Clippers already have a lot of forwards on their roster but if the stats say that Griffin will give them the best chance to win more games, then that’s the guy they should take. Hopefully, it won’t be a mistake like the last time they had the overall No.1 pick, wasting it on Michael Olowakandi.

As far as the other teams and their picks are concerned, read on…

For the Memphis Grizzlies, it might be Connecticut junior center Hasheem Thabeet. The 7-3 shot-blocker is viewed as a high-risk choice. Memphis was the one team that might…

Read More » We’ll pretend we’re not sure if the Los Angeles Clippers will take Blake Griffin in the 2009 NBA Draft

Will he go in the first round of the draft or will he be the next wasted UNC product like, say, a Sean May?

Yes, the future of Tyler Hansbrough hangs in the balance with going pro in the NBA on the horizon. Can he still be a winner in the pro ranks or will he struggle in the same way like J.J. Reddick has?

Tyler Hansbrough has done it all during his time in North Carolina, diving for loose balls, skinning his knees and elbows and giving up his body to help UNC win it’s 5th national championship.

As the focal point of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Hansbrough has set himself up for the critics. He has been the best player on one of the nation’s highest-profile programs and has performed at an exceptionally high level for four straight years. He’s visible. He’s a player college fans know. He is the kind of player whom coaches love, and so many college basketball fans curiously love to hate. Hansbrough insists he didn’t return to fill the only hole, the glaring absence of national title, on his resume.

One season after winning National Player of the Year honors, Hansbrough continually had to defend his decision to return for his senior year after his NBA stock was at his highest point. He enjoys college and wants his degree, he explained to everyone who asked.

Hansbrough holds some impressive records too. He’s…

Read More » What’s next for Tyler Hansbrough?

If you still feel otherwise, read on.

Helping North Carolina beat Michigan State, 89-72, to win the national title was a dream come true for their trio of superstars; Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Tyler Hansbrough.

After they were surprisingly dumped by Kansas 84-66 in last year’s Final Four, all three almost walked away from the North Carolina Tar Heels basketball program for the glamor of going pro in the NBA.

Ultimately, all three decided to stick it out and try to win a title one more time. It paid off.

”I just wanted to be part of something special,” Tyler Hansbrough, who netted 18 points in the title game, said. ”I’m glad I’m going out like this. I’m glad we’re ending it the right way. I’m just glad we’re going out on the right note.”

The Tar Heels used that loss to Kansas last year as motivation. They started games slowly last year, falling behind quickly and never could recover. Throughout this tournament, rapid-fire starts have been their trademark. North Carolina certainly wasted little time in taking the suspense out of the NCAA final.

It was a fitting end for a team that’s carried the weight of the U.S. college basketball world on their shoulders all year long. From the moment of the first tip this season, all eyes were focused on the Tar Heels. Some pondered whether mighty North Carolina would…

Read More » Are the North Carolina Tar Heels worthy of the 2009 NCAA College Basketball National Championship?

It was a storybook ending for North Carolina.

After becoming the only team outside the Big East to earn one of four no.1 seeds for the tournament, after limping towards the 2009 NCAA Final Four with a hurting point guard and after simply dominating the tournament hosts, the North Carolina Tar Heels are the 2009 NCAA college basketball champions.

How about that huh? In Tyler Hansbrough’s senior year, the North Carolina Tar Heels became the 2009 national champions, sending off the face of their franchise like a hero.

Of course, Tyler Hansbrough could not be denied. And with the help of Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson, who was playing hurt, the Tar Heels simply destroyed Michigan State, 89-72, in a blowout win that was already over as early as the first half.

”I felt like it was fitting for us to do what this group just accomplished,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.

Hansbrough, playing his last game with the Tar Heels, scored 18 points. Wayne Ellington had 19 while Ty Lawson managed to score a game-high 21 points despite playing hurt.

But the story here is Tyler Hansbrough, a guy who came back for his senior year in North Carolina for…

Read More » North Carolina wins the 2009 National Championship

Bittersweet, that’s the feeling for sports bettors as they head into Final Four weekend.

On one hand, there is sure to be some great basketball served up by the remaining four teams in the 2009 NCAA Final Four, but on the other hand, the college basketball season will crown a champ and turn out the lights for another season in a few days.

The futures betting has been steady on the four remaining teams, with the Connecticut Huskies listed at +250 to win the NCAA national championship, the Michigan State Spartans at +500, the North Carolina Tar Heels the odds-on favorite at -125 and the Villanova Wildcats listed as long shots at +600.

Bettors have been enamored with the North Carolina Tar Heels all tournament, and that hasn’t changed this week. According to SPORTSBETTING.COM, Tyler Hansbrough and crew have received a little over 50 percent of all the wagering volume on the ”who will win the championship” future odds option.

Not surprisingly, the other no.1 seed left standing, that being the Connecticut Huskies, are running second with the sports betting public, grabbing 30 percent of the wagering action.

It all tips-off on Saturday and in the first semifinal…

Read More » Which team will be your 2009 NCAA Final Four Pick?

The final four teams in college basketball will collide this weekend.

The cliché ”time flies when you’re having fun” is an old and dusty one, but it really holds true when it comes to the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament.

It seems like it was only yesterday when it was just Selection Sunday and with a blink of an eye, the opening round, the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight are all in the rearview mirror and now, the 2009 NCAA Final Four is here.

Last year, there weren’t really any surprises as each of top four seeds; the Memphis Tigers, the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Kansas Jayhawks and the UCLA Bruins all made the Final Four.

While there are two no.1 seeds this year with the North Carolina Tar Heels (again) and the Connecticut Huskies making it, the Michigan State Spartans and the Villanova Wildcats decided to crash the party as well, shocking some college hoops fans in the process.

Of the four, SPORTSBETTING.COM has UNC as the odds-on favorite to win the NCAA championship at -125 followed by the Connecticut Huskies at +250. Michigan State is listed at +500 and Villanova at +600.

Listed as a -7.5 point favorite, North Carolina will try to prevent the Villanova Wildcats from reliving its magical 1985 run (shocked Georgetown), while UConn, favored by 4.5-points, will…

Read More » Bet on these Sports Betting Propositions from SPORTSBETTING.COM for the 2009 NCAA Final Four

Are you ready?

Michigan State, Connecticut, Villanova and North Carolina are all in the 2009 NCAA Final Four as the Big Dance begins Saturday at Detroit’s Ford Field. This sets up several compelling connections to tournament lore.

Let’s start with the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans not only get to play 90 miles from its East Lansing campus but returns to the Final Four for the 30th anniversary of its 1979 NCAA title. The famous showdown between Indiana State’s Larry Bird and Michigan State’s Magic Johnson that season helped shaped college basketball.

Detroit is an extension of home. The comforts are a reward for the Big Ten regular season champions, who are 9-0 all-time as a no.2 seed, the same seed Michigan State earned for the 1979 title run. Using stifling defense and Goran Suton’s offense, the Spartans manhandled top overall seed Louisville last Sunday.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reached his fifth Final Four, all since 1999, joining the ranks of coaches such as Bob Knight, Lute Olson, Guy Lewis and Rick Pitino. MSU’s 2000 championship is the Big Ten’s most recent national title.

Two teams from the mighty Big East qualified, one shy of the record set by their conference in the 1985 Final Four, as the Connecticut Huskies and the Villanova Wildcats make up half of the Final Four.

No.3 seed Villanova feels a connection to the program’s…

Read More » Storylines in the 2009 NCAA Final Four

A bumpy road, that’s exactly what UConn went through.

Connecticut has managed to navigate its way through a maze of off-court problems to reach the 2009 NCAA Final Four, getting this far for a third time, all in the last 11 years.

Coach Jim Calhoun missed the tournament opener as he was hospitalized to treat dehydration, but his Connecticut Huskies were dominant on the defensive end in a couple of blowout wins.

The day before the regional semifinals, a published report alleged UConn broke NCAA recruiting rules, but the Huskies refused to be distracted, beating Purdue and Missouri to advance. The defense has dominated all tournament as no opponent has shot better than 41 percent against the Huskies, who have 25 blocked shots in the four games.

The Huskies have a perfect 4–0 record in the Final Four, with national championships in 1999 and 2004, coincidentally after coming out of the West Region, just like in the concluding 2009 March Madness bracket tournament.

The Michigan State Spartans have got to be worried.

Hasheem Thabeet has the ability to control a game from the defensive end of the floor. The…

Read More » Can the Connecticut Huskies play for the NCAA title?

Defense. That’s what’s been fueling Villanova to get this far.

The argument can be made that no team in the tournament has played defense the way the Villanova Wildcats have.

The Wildcats followed smothering defensive performances against UCLA and Duke by surviving a Big East battle with Pittsburgh in the regional final to get to the 2009 NCAA Final Four.

Despite not having any real size, the Wildcats have plenty of perimeter players who can get out, defend and convert almost every turnover into points. It wasn’t all defense, however, as the Wildcats scored at least 77 points in the four games.

Except for the opener of the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament, it has been a balanced attack despite struggles from three-point range.

Villanova head coach Jay Wright is the rookie among the Final Four coaches. His program has been very successful, reaching the round of 16 four of the last five years. He is a disciple of Rollie Massimino, the man who led the Wildcats to their stunning national championship in 1985. There is no doubt he will be the best-dressed of the four coaches.

Dante Cunningham was the Big East’s most improved player this season, one in…

Read More » Can the Villanova Wildcats surprise us and advance from the 2009 NCAA Final Four to play for the title?

UNC has simply been unbeatable.

Except for the first half of the LSU game in the second round, no team has really challenged North Carolina in the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament.

The Tar Heels even pulled away for a 14-point win over LSU in the second round of their road to the 2009 NCAA Final Four. The biggest worry, however, has been Ty Lawson’s toe injury, but after missing the opener against Radford, he has looked like the point guard who became the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) Player of the Year, leading UNC on the brink of winning the national championship.

The North Carolina Tar Heels almost matched their season average of 90 points per game in the tournament, but it was their defense that stood out, especially in the regional final as they held Oklahoma to 60 points, 19 below its average.

UNC head coach Roy Williams is making his third Final Four appearance, and second straight, with North Carolina, having won it all in 2005. He took Kansas to the Final Four four times from 1991-2003, and was an assistant to Dean Smith for several of his trips with North Carolina, including the 1982 national championship.

The Tar Heels will win the national title if they can continue to execute on both ends of the floor. UNC has won by an average margin of 22.5 points against Radford, LSU, Gonzaga and Oklahoma. But if UNC can’t execute the way they did in the first four rounds…

Read More » Can the North Carolina Tar Heels win the national title?