Who will win the Maui Invitational?

[Mr. Option]

Well Duke isnt in it so ill go with Michigan State i like Izzo in big games.

[jman13]

Yeah, small games like losing to Hawaii by almost 20 mean nothing. :p

I have to go homer here and say Maryland. I am very high on our team this year. I think we can make waves.

Also, what the fuck is wrong with ESPN. All throughout the Sunday night game they kept on saying, "coverage of the Maui starts at 9 and all this bullshit" No it fucking doesn't. There are games on before it, assholes.

[nibblesb2k]

This whole tourney is filled with teams with a bunch of questionmarks. Michigan State just lays an egg, Arizona loses Frye and Salim, Kansas loses damn near everybody, but have some nice young players, UConn returns Gay but lost a couple key guys, Gonzaga is Gonzaga, I don't trust those guys. I know very little about Maryland but I hope they beat the Zags, that small college, cinderella shit gets old for me. Arkansas and Chaminade have no chance, although I wouldn't be shocked if they beat Michigan State. I'm taking Uconn to win, but if Maryland survives round 1, watch out.

The Guardians Classic is better IMO.

[BigShan05]

'zona:D........shakur is gonna beast this year

[Wufpack]

I say UCONN for unknown reasons.

[jgully]

I think Arkansas is a good canidate to pull the upset over UConn. I'll take Zona.

[penn_state_xc]

Gotta roll with the Terps, they return most of their talent which so far seems highly improved.

[KaleoSD]

Yeah, small games like losing to Hawaii by almost 20 mean nothing. :p


Man i hate when people say stuff like that. First, i don't think MSU overlooked Hawai'i at all, and while one game certainly doesn't make a season trust me that game meant something for both teams. Who knows it might have fired MSU up a bit.

That said, I'd have to say if MSU stays healthy and uses better lineups and doesn't go into "crazy panic chaos" mode as they did in Hawaii after being down the whole game than they should win. My second pick would be UCONN. Very nice field though, im cheering for chaminade! heh.

[Red_Raider_33]

Chaminade.......or Gonzaga :D

[jgully]

Why the heck is Chaminade even in this? They are Division III

[jman13]

Man i hate when people say stuff like that. First, i don't think MSU overlooked Hawai'i at all, and while one game certainly doesn't make a season trust me that game meant something for both teams. Who knows it might have fired MSU up a bit.

That said, I'd have to say if MSU stays healthy and uses better lineups and doesn't go into "crazy panic chaos" mode as they did in Hawaii after being down the whole game than they should win. My second pick would be UCONN. Very nice field though, im cheering for chaminade! heh.
Dumbass. It's called sarcasm.

[jman13]

Why the heck is Chaminade even in this? They are Division III
Division II.

And it's because it's their home court.

[killerBsaturn]

Its a crapshot this early in the season.

[Red_Raider_33]

Division II.

And it's because it's their home court.
Actually their home court is on another island, the tournament isn't on Chaminade's campus but they host. I have been to the Chaminade campus and let me just say that I am greatful that its hosted elsewhere, their fieldhouse is quite the dumps...

[jgully]

And it's because it's their home court.

Well I know that. But why do they get to host a Division I pre-season tourney?

[BigShan05]

what happened to j.r. giddens? i dont remember him entering the draft or anything.

[silverwheels]

what happened to j.r. giddens? i dont remember him entering the draft or anything.

He was either booted off the team or he quit (can't remember which) because of the bar fight incident in which he was stabbed.

[NDstud21]

He was either booted off the team or he quit (can't remember which) because of the bar fight incident in which he was stabbed.

No, he was never booted off after the fight but he always had problems with Bill Self since he took over. It's unfortunate because Roy Williams was the one who recruited him.

Giddens ended up transferring to New Mexico.

[silverwheels]

No, he was never booted off after the fight but he always had problems with Bill Self since he took over. It's unfortunate because Roy Williams was the one who recruited him.

Giddens ended up transferring to New Mexico.

I don't remember hearing about him transferring. Doesn't matter, as long as we (the Big XII) don't have to deal with him. He's been trouble since he was in high school.

[NDstud21]

I don't remember hearing about him transferring. Doesn't matter, as long as we (the Big XII) don't have to deal with him. He's been trouble since he was in high school.

Yeah he was poised to have a breakout year. Now Self is forced to give 4 freshman significant playing time.

The Big XII should be up to Oklahoma & Texas now...

[silverwheels]

Yeah he was poised to have a breakout year. Now Self is forced to give 4 freshman significant playing time.

The Big XII should be up to Oklahoma & Texas now...

I was talking more about his off-court problems, but yeah, he could ball. I thought the Big XII was between OU and Texas before the season anyway.

[NDstud21]

I was talking more about his off-court problems, but yeah, he could ball. I thought the Big XII was between OU and Texas before the season anyway.

Agreed. January 28th will be crazy when you guys travel to Texas. Both teams match up really well.

[Hachiko]

UConn do it!

[Chase56]

If Rudy Gay ever had that killer instinct, he'd be the best player in College.

[Hachiko]

If Rudy Gay ever had that killer instinct, he'd be the best player in College.

Trust me, he will.[cool]

[LikeWhoa20]

I love watching the Maui Invitational. It's always my favorite preseason tourney. Plus it always symbolizes the start of my week off for Thanksgiving break. Watched all 4 games today. Here's my analysis:

- Only watched the 2nd half of the MSU-Chaminade game since I was catching up on sleep and didn't wake up til 3. Davis needs to be consistent like that and Brown needs to start scoring 20+, but a nice game from Ager. The last two games will be REAL rough for Chaminade if that big white kid for them can't play the rest of the tourney because of his ankle injury.

- Gonzaga-Maryland was the best overall game of the day. Both teams played in midseason form. Gonzaga looks like they got a real triple threat now in Morrison, Batista, and Raivio. But if one is off on a given night, where will the other points come from? My boy Jeremy Pargo really stepped up in his first game back, hopefully he can keep this up for them. He's been playing on the big stage since his sophomore year in high school, so his performance today wasn't too surprising. As for Maryland, it's good to see how well Strawberry is playing. That team is extremely athletic, but Caner-Medley can't disappear like that as often as he does. That will kill them late in the year in a big game.

- Arizona/Kansas: What an ugly game. Kansas has 26 turnovers because of their youth. Arizona can't buy a bucket because they have no shooters. I thought my Wildcats were overrated at #8, and this game proved it for me. They should play better tomorrow against UConn, but it's hard for me to see who will be the consistent scorer for this team. I think it has to be Rodgers since he can do it all. Adams can't shoot and needs guys to find him in open space and slashing to the bucket. Shakur still needs to pick up his game. The only guy whose play I loved out there was Kirk Walters. He could be our inside presence this season, since it definitely won't be Isaiah Fox. We need McClellan back ASAP. As for Kansas, they just need time to get used to the college level.

- Rudy Gay is the man. Jim Calhoun must be jumping up and down right now after seeing Gay assert himself like that. This is the team to beat in the country if Marcus Williams can return and get back into the flow of things with the rest of this team. As for Arkansas, I like them to possibly win their last two games, take the consolation title and go back home with a lot of confidence.

[LikeWhoa20]

My picks for tomorrow:

Maryland over Chaminade
Arkansas over Kansas
Michigan State over Gonzaga (who will stop Brown and Ager?)
UConn over Arizona (too much inside for UConn, can't wait to see Gay/Adams matchup)

[HogsRule22]

we looked pretty good last night. Brewer really looked like he could be one of the best players in the nation. If he would give his all on every play, i think he is one of the top players in the nation. we were down 17 with around 11 minutes left, and battled back to bring it within 4 with a minute left. i was impressed with the way we battled back, thats one of the thing we've been missing for a while.

i think we got a good shot to win the consolation game, and im looking forward to ta possible SEC West title. :p


....finally our basketball team is exciting to watch again!

[Noles Fan in MA]

Well I know that. But why do they get to host a Division I pre-season tourney?

Same reason Alaska-Anchorage does.

[NDstud21]

Rudy Gay is the man. Jim Calhoun must be jumping up and down right now after seeing Gay assert himself like that. This is the team to beat in the country if Marcus Williams can return and get back into the flow of things with the rest of this team.

Hit it right on the nail there. They already have one of the best frontcourt's in the nation, great shooters, and a coach who's been there before. All they need is a distributer...

[Chase56]

MSU always to seem to have a redhead on the team, either that or it has been the same player for 14 years.

[Krans24]

MSU always to seem to have a redhead on the team, either that or it has been the same player for 14 years.

Hah i was thinking the same thing when i was at the Hawaii-MSU game.

[OCCoug]

Wow, this Maryland-Arkansas game started at 8 AM local time.

[Wufpack]

Batista needs to make these to tie. 63-61 UCONN with 6.6 ticks

First one is good. 63-62 UCONN. Timeout.

[Wufpack]

Holy Shit!!!

[killerBsaturn]

Champs!

[Wufpack]

I say UCONN for unknown reasons.

You know it.

[LikeWhoa20]

UConn is the best team in the country and already my pick to win it all (which I never do this early in the year). Assuming Williams comes back and plays up to his usual level and no one gets hurt, they have the complete package. A couple of those freshmen (Adrien and Austrie) are holding their own as well.

Michigan State really needs Neitzel to pick it up. 26 turnovers is unacceptable. He's got to go to the next level like everyone expected for them to make a run to the national title. It can't be all Ager, Brown, and Davis.

I love Arizona, but it's torcher to watch them on offense. I couldn't stand Salim Stoudamire's selfishness the last 4 years, but Salim plays like John Stockton compared to what Chris Rodgers looked like in Maui. It was nice to see Shakur step up down the stretch with some big buckets. And the defense is the best I've seen them play, maybe ever. They've got some real athletes. Now they just got to find a shooter or two and start working together on offense, which is much easier said than done.

Gonzaga's problem is still whether or not they have the D to make a run to the Final Four. They always have to outscore a team to beat them. And right now only 3 guys do all the scoring. Stop one of them, and you have a great shot at beating them (like UConn did with shutting down Raivio). They need Heytvelt or Pargo to become a reliable 4th option that can step up should someone else be off on a given night.