Big Ten Review (09-10)

All-Big Ten

Kalin Lucas, Michigan State
Junior 6-1 190 14.8p 1.9r 4.0a 0.1b 1.2s

Evan Turner, Ohio State
Junior 6-7 210 20.4p 9.2r 6.0a 0.9b 1.7s

Robbie Hummel, Purdue
Junior 6-8 210 15.7p 6.9r 2.1a 1.0b 1.1s

John Shurna, Northwestern
Sophomore 6-8 210 18.2p 6.4r 2.6a 0.9b 0.8s

JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
Junior 6-10 215 15.5p 7.1r 0.7a 2.1b 0.9s

Player of the Year: Evan Turner, Ohio State
The best player in college basketball (and one of the nerdiest) did it all for the Buckeyes this year. The 6-7 junior ran the point (dishing out an impressive 6 dimes per contest), hit the boards (averaging over 9 per game), filled it up on the offensive end (over 20 a game), and played lockdown defense. Forget about leading his team in multiple statistical categories, The Villain led the conference in scoring, finished second in rebounds and assists, and third in steals. Oh, and Turner broke his back on December 5th, missed six games, and returned to lead the Buckeyes - who, while talented, featured a 7-man rotation for much of the season - to a 2 seed and a share of the Big Ten title. Three of Ohio State's 7 losses on the season came during the six-game period Turner was out the injury.

Coach of the Year: Bo Ryan, Wisconsin
It seems that Ryan is finally starting to get the attention he deserves. Every time I see the Badgers in action, the announcers are singing his praises - and rightfully so. His teams execute on offense, play hard-nosed defense, and don't make mistakes. The meat grinder that is the Badgers' halfcourt offense is just as much Ryan's trademark as the Princeton offense is for JT3 or the secondary break is for Roy Williams. His players develop during their time in Madison (witness Trevon Hughes, Jon Leuer, and Jason Bohannon from this year's team), and, seemingly regardless of who is actually suiting up for the Badgers in a given year, they are going to be one of the top 25 teams in the country and compete for a Big Ten championship.

Freshman of the Year: Drew Crawford, Northwestern
Crawford "headlines" an incredibly weak crop of freshmen in the Big Ten. The 6-5 swingman averaged a solid 10 points and 4 rebounds per contest. Crawford's numbers may be underwhelming, but his play was a key factor in Northwestern regrouping after the loss of Kevin Coble. With Crawford, Coble, Shurna, and rising senior Michael Thompson returning, the Wildcats may be dancing next March for the first time in school history.

Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Kramer, Purdue
His stats (3.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks) do not begin to tell the story of the Purdue senior's impact on the defensive end of the floor. Kramer has twice been honored as Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (as a sophomore and senior) and was named to the conference's all-defensive team each of his four years in West Lafayette. His on-ball defense is a thing of beauty, and the havoc he creates on the defensive end will be sorely missed by Matt Painter. One of the best perimeter defenders to come through the college ranks in the last decade.

Biggest Surprise: Wisconsin
Not a lot of surprises in the Big Ten this year, but the Badgers get the nod here for continuing to outperform expectations. I tend to give Wisconsin the benefit of the doubt, but even I didn't see Bo Ryan's squad as a Top 25-type team this year - let alone a team that would finish one game out of a share of the Big Ten title. It's about time we learned not to doubt this strange team from the North with their blonde buzzcuts and Scandinavian bloodlines.

Biggest Disappointment: Michigan
John Beilein's third season in Ann Arbor was pretty much a fiasco. For some reason, Michigan was ranked 15th in the preseason AP poll. (I'm really not sure I've ever seen a weaker preseason top 25 team.) Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims are talented, but I'm not sure the roster features another quality basketball player. While I thought Michigan would miss the tourney, I didn't expect the Wolverines to finish with a losing record (15-17). With Harris leaving early (presumably to play overseas because he's not an NBA player) and Sims graduating, things will be even worse for Beilein next year - who left a pretty good situation in West Virginia for what has pretty much become a college basketball wasteland.

Thoughts on the Jordan Brand All-Star Game

We can only glean so much from high school all-star games, but I'm sure as hell not going to waste my time watching no-hitters and historic pitching duels when I can see a bunch of giant minors refuse to play defense. My reaction to the Jordan Classic:

More of the Same…..

Jared Sullinger continues to look impressive. If you want to be critical of him, he does seem to have a lot Samardo Samuels in him, in that he tends to play below the rim. That’s really more of an NBA concern, though, and Sullinger should do just fine in the barbaric Big Ten.

I wish Terrence Jones was my son. He seems able to do everything…like a great big Swiss Army knife.

Harrison Barnes is a whole bunch of awesome, and he doesn’t care if you’re already sick of hearing about it. He had 20 points and 15 rebounds and shared co-MVP honors with Kyrie Irving.

Josh Selby announced that he’s going to Kansas. I really don’t know enough about the off-the-court allegations to judge him or make predictions about how he’ll work out based on that sort of thing. What I do think is that Selby is the most dynamic scorer in the entire class. He’s explosive, confident, and creative with the rock. He also picked a great school because Kansas has used shoot-first point guards with great success in the past. That said, there is a whole lot of mustard in his game, and he’s going to have to reign it in to help Kansas be successful.

Jay Williams seemed very impressed with Duke signee Kyrie Irving. The Admiral has pontificated on this point in the past, and I’ll steal his intellectual property for the purpose of this post. Coach K was embraced and lauded by Kobe, LeBron, et. al, following the Team USA Olympic experience. That seems to have given Coach K some sort of “street cred” that he had been lacking for a few years. Irving is the sort of player that Duke had been unable to corral since the likes of Jay Williams left Durham. He has shown that he is athletic, sharp-shooting, competitive, and from all indications, very coachable. Duke will miss a lot about Scheyer, but Irving will be a nice replacement, and one that should not take three years to develop.

Minor Revelations…..

C.J. Leslie’s motor is almost as impressive as his athleticism. He’s also got a much a better handle than I would have expected. If he play All-Star games exclusively, I think he might be one of the top three players in the class. I think his biggest issue is mental lapses. If his college coach can get him focused on playing through every possession, Leslie could be a potential one and done.

Will Barton was rated as one of the top prospects in the country going into the 2010-11 season, but curiously did not get selected for the McDonald’s Game. I figured his stock dropped a little for whatever reason. Whoever dropped his stock has his head up his ass. Barton can score in a variety of ways. Last night he showed that he has no problem scoring in traffic. Maybe his slight frame makes him a defensive liability? I didn’t see it last night, because nobody played any defense, but Barton has long arms and appears bigger than his listed height. Plus he wears an arm sleeve, and I’m pretty sure you have to be pretty damn good to pull off one of those things.

Big East Review (09-10)

All-Big East

Dominique Jones, South Florida
Junior 6-4 205 21.4p 6.1r 3.6a 0.6b 1.7s

Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia
Senior 6-7 230 17.2p 6.2r 3.1a 0.4b 1.0s

Wesley Johnson, Syracuse
Junior 6-7 205 16.5p 8.5r 2.2a 1.8b 1.7s

Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
Senior 6-8 245 21.8p 9.1r 1.6a 0.7b 0.5s

Greg Monroe, Georgetown
Sophomore 6-11 245 16.1p 9.6r 3.8a 1.5b 1.2s

Player of the Year: Wesley Johnson, Syracuse
An absolute revelation for Coach Boeheim's Orange, Johnson takes player of the Year honors in a conference with six legitimate All-American candidates (the five noted above plus Villanova's Scottie Reynolds who is by far the hardest player to leave off any all-conference team). Lofty expectations surrounded the arrival of the former Iowa State Cyclone, but it's hard to imagine anyone thought he would have such a large impact in just a single year. Syracuse went from being projected to finish in the middle of the pack in the Big East to a number one seed and, for a brief period of time, the nation's number one ranking.

Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
With a 7-man rotation and quite possibly just a single future NBA player on his roster, Boeheim rode his 2-3 zone to 30 wins and one of the three best regular seasons in the country. And while the addition of Wesley Johnson played a huge role in Syracuse's success, the transfer's supporting cast was pitch-perfect thanks in no small part to Coach Boeheim. Seniors Arinze Onuaku and Andy Rautins and junior Rick Jackson have improved by leaps and bounds during their careers. (I'm still trying to figure out how Rautins became not just a productive player in the Big East but borderline all-conference with a knack for defense.) In his earlier days, Boeheim was considered a strong recruiter and prodigious collector of next level talent. Considering his latest Syracuse squad, it would be difficult to deny Boeheim's ability to develop that talent. And with his quirky commitment to the 2-3 zone and his balanced offensive attack, Boeheim has never been a slouch in the Xs and Os department. That being said, this was quite possibly Boeheim's most impressive coaching performance in his long, illustrious career. Is it time to start forgiving Boeheim for the Devendorf years? Bob Huggins also deserves some praise, as he probably would have taken this honor in any conference in which Boeheim wasn't in the running.

Freshman of the Year: Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati
Like so many conferences this year, the Big East was thin in terms of rookie talent. For what it's worth, I'm still not convinced Born Ready helped the Bearcats more than he hurt them. In Stephenson's defense, I'm not talking about personality or maturity issues. Rather, I'm referring to his tendency to dominate the ball on the offensive end. While the jury on Stephenson as a team player is still out, I believe his individual talent is apparent. The Bearcat frosh is a bull on the offensive end and gets where he wants to be on the floor. Think of him as a more selfish and not quite as talented Tyreke Evans. That being said, I'm not sure his notorious reputation is entirely deserved.

Defensive Player of the Year: Hamady Ndiaye, Rutgers
This honor could have easily gone to Wesley Johnson for the impact he had on 'Cuse's 2-3 zone. However, Ndiaye's numbers are difficult to ignore, as the 6-11 Rutgers senior averaged 4.5 blocks per contest. He also averaged a solid 7.1 boards per game to go along with 0.4 steals. While Ndiaye's defensive prowess went largely unnoticed by the national media due to the Scarlet Knights' poor showing, RBP salutes one of the nation's most dominant shot-blockers who continued to grind in the post even as his team piled up losses.

Biggest Surprise: Syracuse
Not much was expected from Syracuse heading into the season. An exhibition loss to Division II LeMoyne back in November didn't do much to change this perception. In fact, a tourney appearance probably would have been a respectable showing after the Orange lost Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, and Paul Harris from their successful 2008-09 campaign. While Syracuse couldn't make it past Butler in the Sweet 16 (due, in part, to senior center Arinze Onuaku's untimely leg injury), that does not erase the Orange's Big East regular season title nor its having exceeded all preseason expectations.

Biggest Disappointment: Connecticut
In what was by most accounts a down year in college basketball, UConn may have been, outside of UNC, the biggest disappointment in the country. Yes, Jim Calhoun spent part of the season dealing with health problems. But it's simply incredible that a team featuring Big East stalwarts Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson, talented sophomore Kemba Walker, the highly touted Ater Majok, McDonald's All-American Alex Oriakhi, and steady senior Gavin Edwards could not only miss the NCAA tournament but finish no better than 7-11 in conference (good for 11th place). Dyson, Robinson, and Edwards are seniors, and their production will be hard to replace. Some theoretically talented pieces remain in Storrs, but I'm not convinced. Majok's long-awaited debut was nothing less than a disappointment. He has a long way to go. Oriakhi wasn't much better. Walker is a nice player, but Calhoun curiously failed to develop any semblance of perimeter depth during the Huskies' failed 09-10 campaign.

Grading the Performances from the High School All-Star Games

The high school all-star games are typically the first chance we get to see the highly-anticipated crop of incoming freshmen showcase their skills amongst equals. It's important not to get too carried away with showings in these games considering the national rankings are based on four plus years of organized high school competition and the gauntlet of AAU debauchery. Nonetheless, these games are the best fodder we have for the upcoming season of college bball, so we must acknowledge them. I listed a few of my winners and losers based on performances at the McDonald's game:

WINNERS

Harrison Barnes: This guy could not play anywhere but UNC. His game will be described as smooth so many times next year that it will make everyone sick (Brett Favre is a gunslinger and Jerome Bettis is from Detroit). The best part about Barnes is that his game is EXACTLY what UNC lacked last year. As the Admiral aptly noted, Larry Drew has been the whipping boy of Raleigh, but that is not completely fair. Drew obviously isn't as good as Ray Felton or Ty Lawson, but Ole Roy found a way to win a lot of games without those guys over the last twenty years. Barnes showed range, high basketball IQ, and an NBA-ready physique. I kind of felt the same about Xavier Henry last year, but hopefully Barnes doesn't prove to be as off-putting as Xavier.

Jared Sullinger: Sully was right at home at the McDonald's game, and put on quite a show for his strong contingency of fans. I was impressed until I got a little deja vu recalling Felipe Lopez's McDonald's performance in NYC before four disappointing years at St. John's. Dare I speculate that Sullinger is the type of man the Admiral would love to build his team around. Big, physical, and skilled. He's going to be a force in the Big Ten, and the knock on him coming out of college will probably be whether he is athletic enough to bang with NBA bigs. For the time being though, he looks impressive.

Tobias Harris: Harris got hurt in the McDonald's game, and will probably be out of commission for several weeks, so the fact that I included him as a "winner" is a testament to how impressed I was with him. Harris was bigger, more athletic, and more skilled than I anticipated. I think that after Barnes, he projects as the best NBA prospect in the class right now. Bruce Pearl has yet to actually develop an NBA prospect, so hopefully for Harris's sake, he hasn't already peaked.

Terrence Jones: I loved the efficiency and versatility of his game. Jones can shoot, put the ball on the floor, rebound, and pass. He seemed to have a high basketball IQ, and although he only grabbed three rebounds, his reputation as a solid rebounder gets him a pass for that game. Besides, who rebounds in all-star games? That's bush league.

LOSERS

Brandan Knight: Knight made the same mistake that many top flight players do at the McDonald's game. He tried to use it as a forum to show that criticisms of his game are unfounded. Therefore, he took way too many threes to try to prove that he's a shooter. He should have just played his game and found open teammates, and he would have been fine. The game-winning shot was a nice touch, though. If it's any consolation, I predicted that Mike Conley, Jr. and Jordan Farmar would be complete busts in college after underwhelming McDonald's performances. Unless I'm mistaken, neither of those guys finished a season in which his team failed to make the Final Four. If you're still reading this after that revelation, then you're probably just an old friend of mine. Thanks, I appreciate your loyalty.

While on the subject of Knight, I will get an obligatory dig in on the Worldwide Leader, if I may. ESPN re-ranked the top prospects and dropped Knight behind Kyrie Irving after the McDonald's game. That's kind of like when they dropped John Wall behind Avery Bradley and Favors after the McDonald's game last year. Sidebar: ESPN owns rights to the McDonald's game but not the Hoop Summit Game. Ergo, (in my humble opinion) in ESPN's eyes, great performances in the Hoop Summit game pale in comparison to putting on a show for the ESPN audience at the Hamburger Classic. It was fun watching ESPN repeatedly referring to John Wall as the third ranked player in the ESPN top 100 last winter when Wall became a national sensation. Hopefully Knight, who seems like a great kid, enjoys similar success.

Keith Appling: Apparently Appling has a scorer's mentality. He took fifteen shots in seventeen minutes in the McDonald's game, and may have actually played so selfishly, that remaining recruits would go out of their way to avoid standing around and watching Appling next season in East Lansing. Izzo hasn't had too much trouble with people playing for themselves instead of his team, but he's going to have a tall task in getting Appling to learn a thing or two about shot selection.J

ACC Review (09-10)

All-ACC

Malcom Delaney, Virginia Tech
Junior 6-3 190 20.2p 3.7r 4.5a 0.1b 1.2s

Jon Scheyer, Duke
Senior 6-5 190 18.2p 3.6r 4.9a 0.3b 1.6s

Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
Senior 6-6 200 19.6p 4.6r 6.3a 0.4b 1.7s

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
Sophomore 6-9 215 15.8p 10.7r 1.3a 1.4b 1.4s

Kyle Singler, Duke
Junior 6-8 230 17.7p 7.0r 2.4a 0.8b 1.0s

Player of the Year: Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
General Greivis joins Joakim Noah, Greg Paulus, J.J. Redick, and Eric Devendorf in the starting five on the most annoying team of the last decade and maybe ever. Still, it's quite possible that no one in all of college basketball meant more to their team than the Venezuelan Sensation. (That rhymes, right?)

Coach of the Year: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
Not a lot of competition in the ACC for Coach K this year. Gary Williams' return from the brink can be attributed to his senior conference player of the year point guard as much as anything else. Regardless, it's difficult to put someone ahead of Killer Mike with his conference regular season, conference tourney, and national titles this season. Plus, is there a more charismatic coach in the land? Anyone you'd rather share a good ol' belly laugh with?

Freshman of the Year: Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
Pretty underwhelming crop of freshman. Favors had a nice season, but it did not live up to what many expected out of arguably the nation's most highly touted newcomer. Averaged a solid 12 and 8, showed occasional flash of brilliance, but only reached 20 points twice on the season. Some of his shortcomings can likely be traced to having to share the frontcourt with the black hole that is Gani Lawal. Or we can just chalk it up to Paul Hewitt not being a very good coach. Your call.

Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Singleton, Florida State
A joy to watch, Singleton would be a favorite of any defensive aficionado. Only a sophomore, Singleton averaged 7 boards, 1.5 blocks, and over 2 swipes per contest. When he wasn't leading one of the country's stingiest defenses, he was chipping in over 10 points per game. Sidenote: if Chris Singleton isn't going pro (and I'm not saying he should), there are a lot of early entrants who should be rethinking their decisions. I'm looking at you, Talor Battle, Derrick Caracter, Manny Harris, Adnan Hodzic, Sylvan Landesberg (you broke my heart), Tommy Mason-Griffin, A.J. Ogilvy, Jeff Robinson, Alex Tyus, Willie Warren, and Jahmar Young. And these are only the most absurd.

Biggest Surprise: Maryland
No, we didn't think Duke would take home the crown this year, but the Blue Devils entered the season with high expectations. Maryland, on the other hand, seemed a strong bet for the NIT. Outside of our conference player of the year, can you even name a second Terrapin? The Terps weren't pretty, but they played as a team, supported their Venezuelan superstar, finished atop the ACC regular season standings with the eventual national champs (splitting their head-to-head matchups), entered the tourney as a 4 seed, and were a Korie Lucious 3-point buzzer beater away from the Sweet 16. Gary Williams may have bought himself a little more time with this one - though things won't be easy without his star senior. Then again, perhaps Coach Williams will enjoy not having to listen to Daddy Yankee in the locker room ever again. (And, in case you think I'm engaging in racial stereotyping, here's a link in which King Terp speaks to his affinity for El Cangri, the movie "American Gangster", and what it was like playing high school ball with Kid Nut Raven.)

Biggest Disappointment: North Carolina
Entering the season, I thought UNC had a chance to repeat as national champions. Clearly, I was wrong. The young, unseasoned Tar Heels finished one game out of the ACC cellar and missed the NCAA tourney. At this point, it is pretty much common practice to blame, in large part, Larry Drew II's point guard play for the Heels' decline. While there is no doubt there is a drop off when you go from Ty Lawson to LD2, Drew's numbers weren't all that bad - almost 6 assists per game and a respectable 1.84 assist-to-turnover ratio. Others pointed to freshman John Henson's struggles to adapt to the college game. For the record, I still like Henson - still believe he has a ton of potential. Yes, I was a little surprised he didn't do more this year, but, with his body, he's going to have to be given time to develop. His play at the end of the season was more than encouraging. UNC apologists point to the injury bug that a handful of Heels succumbed to over the course of the season. Sure, the injuries to Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis were especially difficult to deal with, but the real problem was the lack of offense from the 2 and 3 spots. Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves never showed an ability to create their own shots or score in bunches to make teams pay for doubling down on the Tar Heel bigs. And freshman Leslie McDonald was a non-factor. All in all, a bad season for the Chapel Hill faithful and a poor performance by one of the best coaches in the country. But no worries Tar Heel nation, it's nothing a little Harrison Barnes won't fix - he of the oh so feathery jumper and aerial acrobatics.

And we're back...

Another college basketball season has come to a close. Duke has been crowned national champion for the fourth time since 1990. Not too shabby, Blue Devils. Here, at Roundball Portfolio, we would be remiss if we failed to acknowledge the glaring absence of posts over the course of the past year. And what we did give you - and by you I mean Pat McGuire the Sig, random Sacramento Kings fan, and Attorney Kyle (Kyle, after this post, you will be glad I kept your identity hidden) - wasn't all that good. Take, for example, an early season post in which I ranked North Carolina as the second best team in the country or a midseason post in which HAL 9000 listed John Wall as a freshman on the decline. Despite these failings, I, for one, am feeling energized. It's my hope that I will get a couple of posts up per week in the offseason. I'm hoping my former compatriots will jump on board as well. We'll see how it goes, but please don't be surprised if this lasts for all of, well, this post.

As I was saying, Duke took top honors again - just when I thought Coach K was slipping into irrelevance (or at least irrelevance relevant to his stature in the 90s and 00s). Obviously, there are a ton of questions to answer heading into next season for a number of programs - will the Tar Heels bounce back?; will Kentucky reload after losing 8-9 players from their already youthful roster?; who will take the helm in Eugene?; what was Oliver Purnell thinking?; and the list goes on. But, for the moment, let's examine what Duke's triumph means for Coach K and for Duke going forward.


1) Coach K is back. Unless you're a Duke fan, chances are you're none too pleased with the Blue Devils' latest championship. Regardless, you would be hard-pressed to deny that Coach K is back. In fact, the real argument may be whether Coach K ever left. I'm not arguing Coach K had lost it, but, if you look at his team's performances over the past few years, his teams exhibited some glaring flaws. Lacking in athleticism, weak in the paint, and an overall lack of toughness just to name a few. This team was different. While not overly athletic (that will start to change with Duke's 2010-11 recruiting class), these Blue Devils, as annoying as they may have been, had plenty of big bodies in the paint (Zoubek, Lance Thomas, and the brothers Plumlee) and a grit lacking in previous Duke squads. I think the thing that shocked me more than anything is the timing of Duke's return to the summit. You see, I've had a sneaking suspicion that things were going to turn around for Duke. The problem has never been Coach K's Xs and Os. Rather, it's been getting the players you need to compete at the highest level. Duke's image as Laettner Redick University didn't help matters. The 1999 Elton Brand/Corey Maggette/William Avery team was beginning to look like an aberration. (And, yes, on some level this was becoming a race thing.) But then the Olympics happened, and Kobe and Lebron caught Coach K fever, singing his praises at seemingly every turn. These are the guys high school phenoms look up to, and I do believe the relationship Coach K fostered with the game's finest will do nothing but help lure recruits to Durham. Just so we're clear, I don't mean to say Duke is on the verge of a dynasty or even that they're my favorite to repeat next year, but I do believe the demise of Coach K predicted by some (myself included before his turn as Dream Team skipper) was premature. Oh, and I should also mention that I think it pretty much goes without saying that he's one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball.


2) With the additions of transfer Seth Curry, JUCO Carrick Felix, and a talented recruiting class led by McDonalds All-American Kyrie Irving, Duke will be formidable next year and will have a chance to repeat if Kyle Singler returns. Jon Scheyer got the press, and Nolan Smith showed marked improvement, but Singler is the Blue Devils' best and most important player. He's a matchup nightmare - able to post up smaller forwards but too talented a shooter and ballhandler for true post players to defend. On top of this, he's as heady a player as there is in the nation. He makes everyone around him better, is an excellent passer, and lets the game come to him. I'm not sure if Singler is going to be successful at the next level, but I do know he's a fantastic college basketball player. One has to wonder, though, if Singler will return for his senior season. His turn as Final Four MOP means his draft stock won't be getting any higher. While he may not be a lock for the first round, one doubts there's anything I guy as polished and limited athletically as Singler (I do believe he's athletic enough to play in the Association) can really do anything in his fourth year to change the minds of Chad Ford and those of his ilk.


3) On a more sinister note, I think RBP has a duty to illuminate a set of circumstances that may have played a part in Duke's return to prominence but has received scant attention in the mainstream press. As I noted in part 1 of this post, Coach K's return to greatness dovetails quite nicely with his position as head coach of Team USA basketball. Additionally, I noted that Coach K forged a special bond with the game's finest - Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Everyone knows the Olympics are the ultimate propaganda tool for the New World Order, a stripping off nationalistic sentiment for the sake of international unity. You may not know this, but Lebron and Kobe are freemasons. In fact, as is revealed here, Lebron is actually a member of the inner sanctum of freemasonry. Of course, Dick Vitale and the other ESPN talking heads will have you believe that Duke won its fourth national championship as a result of hardwork, precise execution, hustle, and heady play. The national media will no doubt point to Duke's admittedly impressive 35-5 record, ACC regular season championship, ACC tournament championship, and run to the title game as evidence that these Blue Devils earned their rings. I, for one, am not convinced.