Talk about your logjams at point guard, the Tigers already stacked at the point position, makes you wonder how different things would have been if they had signed Mississippi State All-SEC junior Jamont Gordon.

The 'Dogs guard said he was recruited by John Calipari but choose the Stark Dogs instead.  "I talk to Coach Calipari a lot but I saw a better opportunity at Mississippi State."

Actually, Calipari lost out to Tennessee when recruiting Gordon.  Former UT coach Buzz Peterson had a verbal from Gordon, then Peterson was relieved of coaching duties.

Meanwhile, MSU Rick Stansbury was also recruiting Gordon, and just hanging around in the background. With Peterson out of the picture and Gordon looking for a place to sign, who do you think just happened to have a pen and paper handy? Slick Rick.

But can you imagine how the Tigers would be if he'd signed with Memphis.  He would have played his first season with Darius Washington, Joey Dorsey, Robert Dozier, Shawn Williams, Rodney Carney, Andre Allen, Antonio Anderson, and Chris Douglas-Roberts.  That Tigers team made it to the Elite Eight.

How much playing time would he have received that year competing with Washington and Allen at the point?

What would have happened the next season? Would Cal have gone after Willie Kemp as hard as he did with Gordon playing and would Kemp have even signed to play with Memphis with Gordon already there?

And if Kemp decided to play, how attractive would Memphis have been to freshman Derrick Rose with three-point guards already in the mix?  Would Gordon have been moved to shooting guard, a starting spot(s) co-occupied by CDR and Anderson with Doneal Mack altering as their relief?

Funny, Stansbury doesn't even recall Memphis being in the picture for Gordon.  Interesting isn't it?

I don't know how things would have turned out for Gordon with Memphis, but I'm confident how the Bulldogs would have been without him, not playing Memphis Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

 

I went to grab a Coke just before the Mississippi State game with Oregon.  I thought I'd just grab my drink and go. But a woman with the NCAA told me that I couldn't take an unopened can of soda with me, that I had to pour it in one of the cups they provided. I'm thinking maybe this is the NCAA or Alltel Arena's way of making sure they recycle, and I'm down with that. But I had to ask why. 

The woman's co-worker gave me the goods, she told me that the NCAA wanted their logo shown at every opportunity.  So if I were to go on the court and the cameras were to catch me, I'd have a cup with the NCAA logo on it. I guess the NCAA logo on each ends of the court, on the tables between the two benches, on the scoreboard that's never off the screen, on the players jersey, on the basketball, and how could I forget the big one in the center of the court, is not enough. Or maybe the NCAA is actually coming out with a soft drink of their own and are just doing marketing research. They'll call it simply the NCAA and the Caffeine Free NCAA.

Now the NCAA does a great job of feeding the media.  In addition to the buffet lunches and dinners between games, they provide members of the media with snack food. There are these huge bowls of popcorn sitting in the hallway.  Just a little something-something to munch on should you get hungry and not have time to go all out. They provide us with scooping spoons also. So why is it that one of the radio talk-show host in Memphis sticks his hand in the bowl and pulls out a fist full of popcorn?  Technically it's not double-dipping, but I'd have to say it's just as bad. So I'll guess from now own, I'll just take a diet NCAA and a bag of chips. 

 

Every single time I see Robert Dozier, I can't help but to think of former Tigers' center from the early '80s, William "Big Bill" Bedford.  Just like Bedford when he played, Dozier has that clean shaved baby face that gives you the impression, despite this height, that he should still be in high school.  Now it just so happens that Ari Bergeron, of Eyewitness Sports Everywhere fame, tells me that Dozier is playing like (something not good) during the Tigers' first round game against Texas-Arlington.  Still the Tigers are up 14 at the half, but they should be up even more. You can't let the Mavs get any confidence.

Watching Chris Douglas-Roberts shoot from the free throw line brings to mind another Tiger blast from the past, Steve Ballard.  Dr. Ballard, who is now a dentist in still resides in Memphis, use to bounce the ball with one hand and gently strike himself on the chest with the other before shooting his freebies. CDR does the same, but taps his shoulder. And as I recall, for all that technique, Ballard wasn't such a great free throw shooter either.  Ballard played during the E.P. (Elliot Perry) so luckily, he didn't have to shoot many because Perry had the ball in his hands the majority of the time and as we all know, he could score.

But on the plus side, Ballard is one heck of a dentist.

You don't really expect to see much during the public practices during the NCAA Tournament.  For the fans, I would imagine it's cool, especially when teams do what John Calipari did out of the blue last year when he asked his team to put on a dunking display for those in attendance. 

Now if he does it again at some point this year, one guy will not be slamming it home, at least not without the help of a ladder or one of the players shoulders. That person would be Calipari's 11-year old son Bradley. Hey, Bradley does everything else with the team. Thursday he was shooting around with the guys during the public practice. No joke.

Now I know Texas-Arlington isn't expected to make it competitive for more than six-minutes Friday night, but will it get to the point where Bradley takes over at guard? I'll tell you this, the kid can shoot the outside jumper and he can make free throws. And that's not the scouting report talking, I saw this with my own eyes.  I'm not saying he can do it on the big stage, but he was on fire at practice. Cal shouldn't offer him a scholarship just yet, but at least let him walkon.  

In their locker room Thursday afternoon at the Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Tigers looked like a team that has just left it all out on the court.  The problem is, they hadn't played a game since Saturday morning. So why the fatigue? According to coach John Calipari, the team arrived in Little Rock late Wednesday night and had to get up early Thursday morning. Calipari, in particular, was flanked by members of the media basically from the moment the police escort let him out of his vehicle to enter the arena until the moment he left. He said he would get plenty of zzzzz's Thursday night.  Well, the Tigers are playing the late game Friday, but I get the feeling Calipari will not be sleeping in.