Big Blue Linkapalooza: Jimmer Fredette Social Butterfly Edition

Did you know that social interaction between Jimmer Fredette, DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans should have been a consideration when drafting the former BYU guard?  Neither did I, and unfortunately, it still sounds crazy even after I have written it down.

Here are today's links:

• We have a winner! The stupidest thing ever written about Jimmer and the NBA Draft

  Take for instance the genius of Tyler Ingle at NBAdraft.net. Mike Misek (East) and Ingle (West) hand out grades for every NBA team, giving the Sacamento Kings (and new employee Jimmer Fredette) a B-. That's fine but check out Ingle's reasoning (you're gonna love this):
  
  "As much as we like Jimmer, it's hard to imagine him fitting in socially with Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins. Therefore, we question this move. Especially when staying put and drafting Brandon Knight or especially Kemba Walker (who would have brought the best out of Tyreke and Cousins off the court) would have been a much better option."

  What kind of crazy?

• Kentucky's Calipari sees college basketball's future with skewed vision :: Richmond Times-Dispatch
  I guess this guy doesn't care for Calipari's spitballed "superconference" idea, either. But what does "skewed vision" mean in this context? Worse, this guy doesn't seem to get that despite the fact Cal is a basketball coach, this proposal is really all about football.

• College Basketball Notebook :: Kentucky's Doron Lamb should be a playmaker, Cal says :: The Courier-Journal

• Knicks on Josh Harrellson: "He’s a need that we need" :: John Clay’s Sideline
  Tautological? Or just...clumsy? It doesn't matter, it's right.

• Even more NBA Draft leftovers and Sunday notes :: John Clay’s Sidelines
  Lots of good stuff here.

• Jerry Tipton: Terrence Jones follows mentor Damon Stoudamire's path

  "When you go to the pros, you'll be the best Terrence Jones you can be," Stoudamire said. "That's what I always preach to these kids. Don't worry about the next guy going pro. Be the best you can be so when you get there, you'll be the best player you can be."

  Awesome advice.

• Abney Against Eliminating Kickoffs :: LEX18.com
  I agree with Derek.

• SEC baseball's only peer is SEC football :: al.com

  Finally. At last. We found someone that can keep up with SEC football.
  
  It's SEC baseball.

  Absolutely right.  Good piece on maybe the second greatest sport in SEC country.

• Detroit Pistons - NBA :: Brandon Knight makes it clear: I'm happy to be a Piston :: The Detroit News
  I never believed the reports that he did.

• NBA Sunday: 2012's Strong Draft Class - Basketball News & NBA Rumors -

• Water hazard! $500 million floating golf course planned for Maldives - CNN.com
  For you golfers out there. Just wow.

• USA 16s Capture Gold At FIBA Americas :: Hoopniks
  Outstanding!

• Teen, now an orphan, survives his 2nd plane crash in 8 years :: Houston Chronicle
  Our prayers go with you, young man.

• Do your job as a parent, NCAA, and spank your naughty coaches - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com

• T-Wolves tried to lure Coach K - College Football - College Basketball - Rumors - FanNation
  And the T-Wolves think K would pass on the Lakers and coach them because ... Oh, never mind.

• Favorite columnist survives another round of Courier-Journal layoffs : U of L Card Game

  I don't pick on the Cardinal bloggers much.  Too often, it's a bit  like shooting fish in a barrel.  To wit:

  Certainly not from University of Louisville fans who have tolerated the overabundance of University of Kentucky coverage [in the Louisville Courier-Journal] for decades, often at the expense of the local university.

  Perhaps, dear sir, that is because Kentucky fans outnumber Louisville fans in their own city.

  However I agree here, when discussing Eric Crawford, who writes for the C-J:

  Theer  son of former WHAS-TV reporter and CJ columnist Byron Crawford, Eric is arguably the best sportswriter and analyst the newspaper has had since the days of Dave Kindred. He consistently does his research while providing balance and introspective into most issues.

  Well, I don't agree with the use of "introspective" when "introspection" is the correct form, but in substance, we are of a mind.  Crawford is very fair to both schools, and is probably the C-J sports columnist I would miss the most as well.

  He goes on:

  Crawford admitted to me once that he grew up a Kentucky fan in Shelby County, but he has never shown any reluctance to take on Big Blue partisans — or U of L fanatics for that matter – when their institution is on the wrong side of an issue. He challenged, for example, the wisdom of hiring John Calipari when the background was clearly questionable.

  Well, Crawford is fair, as I said.  The hiring of Calipari, however, was only questionable to opposing fans, particularly of the River City persuasion.  Most everyone else, when presented with all the facts (including Crawford, by the way), were quick to jump on board.

• Enes Kanter Gets a Twitter Account

• Guest essay: Clinical trials vital to ending cancer - Henrietta, NY - Henrietta Post
  Check the photo caption. Well done, coach.

• Josh Harrellson has already cost the Knicks between $700k and $750k

• 2011 NBA Draft: Knicks Edition |

  #2 Harrellson’s Size: The Knicks landed a very solid second round pick last season when they selected Landry Fields. Could Harrellson make the Knicks 2 for 2 in the second round? If watch any of Kentucky’s games during the NCAA Tournament, you would have seen Harrellson dominate future lottery pick, Jared Sullinger from Ohio State. Harrellson is a big body (6’10″, 275 pounds) and should be able to give the Knicks quality minutes off the bench.

  I wonder how many Wildcats fans agree with the writer that Harrellson "dominated" Jared Sullinger?  My recollection is that the battle was won by Sullinger, but by very little.  Josh had 17 and 10, and Sullinger had 21 and 16.

  With all that said, I think the Knicks will be pleased with Josh if they give him a chance to develop.

• How do you grade the Pistons for drafting Brandon Knight? :: PistonPowered
  Pistons fans seem pretty happy with Brandon Knight.

• Ticker: Brandon Knight gets D-plus -- from the fashion police :: Detroit Free Press

  "I expect more from my Kentucky guys. Like the pinstriped suit, but the rest needed a lot of work."

  When you start grading the suits NBA players wear with a fashion eye, you have truly reached the pinnacle of manufacturing topics for discussion out of thin air.

• Orlando Magic: SG J.J. Redick might finally get his chance to become a starter - OrlandoSentinel.com

  The Magic need help in that area. Named to the all-SEC defensive team, Liggins was credited for giving a soft Wildcats team an aggressive swagger. Liggins shut down Tennessee's leading scorer, Scotty Hopson, trash-talking in his ear like Gary Payton throughout one matchup.

  Good read.