Category Archives: john caliperi

2013 March Madness: Bubble Teams

John+Caliperi+Kentucky+Bubble+Team+2013+NCAA+TournamentThe NCAA Tournament is right around the corner and teams pushing to win their conference tournaments and assure a spot in this season’s ‘Big Dance’.

There were a few smaller conference upsets that limited the number of at-large bids the larger conferences usually dominate.

Many of the teams on the “bubble” are perennial favorites, like Kentucky who want to defend their title. A few newcomers are also on the bubble, like La Salle who haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1992.

Which current bubble teams are safe to receive at-large bids and which teams still have work to do? Continue reading

Nerlens Noel Injures Knee, Tears ACL [Video]

I was watching the #25 Kentucky Wildcats play against the #7 Florida Gators tonight and something horrible happened in the second half.

Kentucky freshman center Nerlens Noel injured his knee when blocking a shot by Florida’s Mike Rosario. Noel had to catch up to Rosario, who was on a fast break. He was going at top speed and couldn’t stop correctly. Noel’s left knee buckled and rammed into the padded post under the basket.

The sound Noel made when he grabbed his knee was heartbreaking. His Kentucky teammates helped carry Noel off the court.

That play will end up being Noel’s last this season and possibly his last play of his college career. He tore his ACL in his left knee.

Noel is projected to be a possible first overall pick if he entered the 2013 NBA Draft. It’s hard to say what impact, if any, this injury will have if he leaves college or if he will be drafted early.

I posted a video of the accident below. Continue reading

Kansas Proved Me Wrong

My bracket-skills need some work, I usually do pretty well in tournament pools, but this year was a bad year for your local area “White Boy.” I had UNC/UCLA in the final game with UCLA winning the dance. Even though I think that game would have been amazing, the Memphis/Kansas game didn’t disappoint at all. I watched a few games that Memphis and Kansas participated in this year and the games I watched, neither team impressed me. I saw Memphis lose to Tennessee and I barely paid attention to the Kansas games I watched ’cause I have never believed that Bill Self was that great of a coach. I’m no fool though, I’ve seen highlights almost daily of Brandon Rush or Mario Chalmers making some great plays on Sportscenter, but I have never given them much dap. The dap-o-meter reading was extremely high during the National Championship game. Especially after that amazing shot that Chalmers drained with guys in his grill.I have to confess that I wasn’t really into the National Championship game from the start. I don’t really have much love for either of the teams. My opinion on Memphis is that they are a bunch of thugs that will not end up with a diploma and Kansas play is more boring than entertained (most of the time). I was watched the game at the Winking Lizard tavern and I was just minding my own business and watching the game and talking to my friend, like a sane person. Anyways, there was a group of guys next to me that were really into the game, excuse me, REALLY into the game. I happened to be sitting next to the guy who was screaming directives and plays at the Kansas team, I believe this gentleman may have been what the experts call “drunk.” This made me start wanting Memphis to make this game into a blow-out, just to shut this guy up. They let me down, they actually made this game into one of the most entertaining Final Four games that I can remember. As we speak, John Caliperi is currently petitioning the league to ban the free-throw.

Do you think Chalmers and Rush will have decent NBA careers? I believe Chalmers plays a lot like Tayshaun Prince. He is long and has good range for a guy his size. He can also play defense, which is just a plus when you think about what he would bring offensively. The jury is still out on Rush. His brother Kareem Rush, was a great player at the University of Missouri, but hasn’t panned out as a pro. He is still in the NBA, but has been a bench player. I don’t like to compare siblings like that, but Kareem was a much better college player than Brandon. I hope the best for him.

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