GoodTalkRuss

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Samuels (if healthy)

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I have been a little removed from the updates this summer...Are we already reaching for our preseason injury quota?

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Not saying it isn't bull shite, but Arkansas has been getting the same treatment by having to come to us. This next season will be their 7th trip to T-Town since 2019-2020. We've been to Fayetteville three times in that span.

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Fortunately we have won the last 2 in Fayetteville which is nice. I had taken for granted that Bama has won 6 in a row against Arkansas. 5 of those 6 wins, by 4 points or less.

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The the problem is we could build a statue of all of our Heisman winners, and we still wouldn't have a statue of our best players of all time.

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DT best player of all time? I would agree with that answer. Lot of exceptionally good players over the history. Outside of DT, who would you say was more impactful over the course of one season than Henry heisman year or Devonta Smith heisman year. Not saying you are wrong, just curious?

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When I say compelling I mean him personally. He left school early because he couldn't make NIL money as a Canadian and wanted to come back and play for that exact same school without having played in an NBA game. That's so much more sympathetic of a person than some 26 year old European who has played professionally since he was 17 and never had any interest in attending college, for free, in Europe.

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I understand what you are saying and agree with you. I was just stating that we can remove compassion and sympathy from the Bediako case because the NCAA really had created the open door policy for professionals and G-league players to return in the 5 year window. Bediako didn't go before a judge, hat in hand, asking for another shot and special treatment, he asked to be granted the same permissions that the NCAA had already applied to others. Bediako's case was grounded in the fact that he qualified for a return just as much as any other player the NCAA had allowed to come back. For that judge, it should have been a pretty straight forward injunction. He didn't have to like it and could express his opinion that he thought it was bad for everyone, but he still didn't present a logical argument of why he denied it.

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They don’t. The whole “we are taking our ball and going home” deal was as much about separating themselves athletically like they are academically as anything else. It’s like these 1A schools that exist in 10k population counties in Alabama. They mostly exist so their kids can get on the field because they’d get a better education just getting bussed over to the bigger county school.

There is more to it than that. I remember a few girls getting switched to the smaller schools as soon as they showed too much interest in black boys.

I digress, the separation is because they want their nepobabies to get to play college athletics instead of being resigned to club and rec leagues like they would at big state Us that are trying to earnestly compete for championships.

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That's certainly my understanding as well, which in fairness to them, I guess that makes sense.

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Having the governor and court system in your pocket is a trump card when it comes to NCAA eligibility.

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The thing that pisses me off the most is the judge who denied Bediako was sitting there staring at precedent that had been set by other former pros returning to college and still sided with the ncaa. I'm not saying the guy had to like doing it, but from a legal standpoint the ncaa had already allowed a certain level of ridiculousness that Bediako fell into that category of eligibility.

14 straight division titles is incredible. Only to be matched by his unlikely to ever be broken "most times to be thrown out of game" record. I remember multiple times where he was thrown out of the game without him ever leaving the dugout... Those were the good times!

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A home and home vs UCLA would be cool because I could stay with my friend in LA. Kansas would be fun.

But if we’re playing in Vegas I’m probably going to that as my big road trip.

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Why can't we go to Storrs and have them come here? He and Nate are buddies and I would love to have Hurley in Coleman.

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Then maybe they should be sold on the importance of other sports

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Pretty hard to sell if they are losing buckets of money with every passing hour.

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Watching some Fielder highlights, he is definitely a 4 and we are in trouble if hes having to play the 5. He doesn't really play above the rim, and is going to struggle with more athletic bigs. Several of his "highlights" from this past season were him having to take tough 2s in traffic where he couldnt create space, as well as dunks where he had to regather under the rim to get up after a pass or rebound. I still think hes a great get and perfect for the system, but hes definitely a 4 or maybe even a big 3 in certain situations. Certainly better than getting Freeman who loves shooting long contested 2s while shooting 33% and also seems like a headcase. edit: Just calling what I see. I have seen a lot of comments comparing him to Grant. But he's a completely different player. Less athletic, doesnt have that kind of handle, but has a significantly better shooting stroke imo. He can shoot it from several feet behind the 3 point line too. I do think he has potential as a defender, hes willing, and moves laterally fairly well. Question will be if his lack of ups hurts his rebounding.

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You aren't wrong no matter how unpopular it is. We need Garrison or Fleming to step up big at the 5 and let Fielder hold down the 4. It's plausible. Grant was a lot more special player than I think a lot of people are willing to concede or possibly understand.