FanHouse Basketball

Olympic athletes often don't get paid to do anything other than look good. In that vein, Attractive Olympians handicaps which athletes may rake in endorsement deals after the Olympics.

Becky Hammon just wants to be an Olympian -- so badly that she'll use her dual citizenship this summer as a member of the Russian national team, an act that has led some to call her a traitor.

Quick history: Despite being an All-America at Colorado State, Becky Hammon was shunned at the 1999 WNBA draft. She joined the New York Liberty as a free agent, where she had an immediate impact off the bench but spent four years backing up Teresa Weatherspoon. After a breakout season in 2003, she was left off the Athens squad in 2004. In 2007, she was the runner-up in the WNBA MVP vote, yet her invitation to try out for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team was less than sincere.

Personally, if I'd been snubbed by one country that much, I might consider going where I felt appreciated, too -- her Russian club, CSKA Moscow, pays her in the seven figures, and she was a lock for the Olympic team there.

But let's take a step back from the politics involved and ask something more superficial: how does this dilemma affect her sex appeal? Will this affect her potential sponsorships? Might Americans actually cheer for a Russian team? Is "Becky" an acceptable Russian name? None of these answers -- and more! -- after the jump.

Now that the second half of conference play is rolling, the pressure of every game builds. The Big East adds that extra level of stress as the 4 worst teams don't get to play in the Big East Tournament. That means added pressure on coaches and their job security -- which is why the coaches hate the format.

1. Pitt -- Gutted out the tough road win at Villanova and has been off since.
   
2. Marquette -- Got past a tough Providence team that matches up with them well on Dwyane Wade day.
   
3. Georgetown -- Now done with pounding on the lower half of the conference. Games at Louisville and Marquette coming to the Phone Booth.
   
4. WVU -- Finally notched some road wins by sweeping through New Jersey.
   


5. Villanova -- They have to find a way to give Scottie Reynolds more of a rest during the game.
   
6. ND -- Just as it seemed the Irish had turned the corner with road games by handling Syracuse they lose at South Florida.
   
7. Louisville -- Still lacking a quality road win, but will have a chance for a good win hosting Georgetown this week.
   
8. Syracuse -- Beating DePaul hardly makes up for the fact that they gave up 100+ points to Notre Dame. They have become very shaky on defense.
   


9. Providence -- Gave Marquette a tougher game then expected. They've been alternating wins and losses which has had as much to do with competition. They are getting entrenched in the 7-11 range.
   
10. DePaul -- In the same range as Providence. Will handle the teams below, but not the teams above. They beat themselves against Syracuse by going 10-20 at the free throw line in a 6 point loss.
    
11. UConn -- A five game losing streak finally ends with a home OT win over Rutgers? Get ready for that thrilling Big Monday ESPN game against Syracuse.
    
12. USF -- Beware the Sun Dome. After blowing it last week against Marquette, they knocked off Notre Dame. Now up to 3 conference wins, and actually in good shape to make the Big East Tournament.
    


13. St. John's -- After being spanked by Pitt and Georgetown, they handled Cinci. At least they aren't the worst team in the conference.
    
14. Seton Hall -- Well, um, they beat Princeton.
    
15. Rutgers -- Any other year, getting UConn to OT in Hartford would be an impressive thing.
    
16. Cinci -- No depth, little talent. Not a combination that gets a lot of wins.

As always you can see the full Big East Blogpoll at Big East Basketball Report.

Another week down, and a little reshuffling at the top with North Carolina's impressive win and UCLA's shocking loss. Fanhouse voters this week: Ryan Ferguson, Nathan Fowler, Zach Landres-Schnur, Chas Rich, Michael David Smith and the Sportz Assassin.

The number in parenthesis after the name indicates the points given on all the ballots. The next number indicates the movement from the previous week's poll. (The format will be cleaned up for easier reading next week).

1. Florida (93 points, 3 first place votes) -- -0-: The general feeling is that the Gators are the team to beat come March, just has not changed from the start of the season. Mildly surprising, given how rarely that happens.
   
2. UNC (89, 2 first place votes) -- +2 : But going on the road, with a top scorer out for the game and blowing Arizona out of the water opened eyes that UNC might mature in time.
   
3. Wisconsin (85, 1 first place votes) -- -0-: Sportz Assassin summed up the problem for Wisconsin in the rankings, "I like this team, but blowing through the Big Ten has no meaning to me."
   
4. UCLA (76) -- -2: Why is something like UCLA losing to Stanford on the road proof of how deep the PAC 10 is, but when teams in the SEC or Big East beat each other up -- depending on home court -- it's a sign of how down the conference is?
   


5. Ohio State (70) -- +1: So talented, but to almost give the game away in the second half, at home to Michigan State...
   
6. Texas A&M (61) -- -1: They picked the right time to lose to Texas Tech. I just wish they would win a big game on the road to really allow me to believe.
   
7. Kansas (59) -- +1: Another team with tremendous talent, that you just have trouble trusting. No such issues this past week with Colorado and Baylor.
   
8. Pitt (53) -- +1: See the second comment regarding Texas A&M and apply it to Pitt.
   


9. Duke (45) -- +1: Zach Landres-Schnur puts it this way, "Cameron Indoor still toughest place to play in America." (just ask Clemson)
   
10. Oregon (41) -- -3: Probably hammered a little too unfairly for losing to Washington without Aaron Brooks and eking out an OT road win over Washington State.
    
11. Memphis (33) -- +1: From Sportz Assassin, "I love this team. They aren't championship material...but there is talent and should continue to dominate the week Conference USA."
    
12. Butler (29) -- +1: Unless they really blow it in the Horizon League, they should coast on what they did in the non-con.
    


13. Oklahoma State (21) -- +1: Between their lack of depth and no big win on the road, they don't inspire strong belief.
    
14. Marquette (15) -- +1: The only team outside of the top-4 to actually play well in road conference games.
    
15. Nevada (9, appeared on 3 ballots) -- NR: It isn't all Nick Fazekas, it just seems that way.
    
16. Indiana (9, appeared on 2 ballots) -- NR: Surprise entrant despite the road loss to Illinois last week. Michael David Smith was a big supporter -- offering a good explanation -- and to be fair, several ballots also included the Hoosiers as one of the teams that might be on their way into the Power 16.
    

Falling out: Arizona (3-5 for the month of January) and Alabama (3-4 for the month with a game at LSU before the end).

And four still trying to get into the Power 16:

• Air Force -- Losing at BYU wasn't a shock, it's what they do the rest of the way.
  
• Michigan State -- That loss to Ohio State was very helpful, but the rest of their schedule is brutal (at Ill, OSU, Wisconsin, Indiana, at Michigan, and at Wisconsin).
  
• Virginia Tech -- 6-1 in the ACC? No one really believes, but they keep winning.
  
• Georgetown -- Coasting through the soft chewy portion of the Big East but the big games are looming especially road tests at Louisville, Syracuse and Villanova.

On the road or neutral sites, the Mountaineers are 2-4 (0-3 in the Big East). In the state of West Virginia they are a perfect 14-0 (5-0 Big East) after today's 64-52 win over the sliding DePaul Blue Demons.

For West Virginia, the typical hallmark of a win -- making 3s was there. They shot 8-19; and DePaul couldn't buy an outside shot going only 2-12. DePaul would have been far better off in this game completely eschewing the 3s. The Blue Demons were 21-33 inside, making any outside shooting a curious decision to be sure.

Joe Alexander was the reason for the WVU win with 23 points and 6 rebounds. He was doing it inside and out with 2-2 on 3-point shots. He completely outplayed the 2 best players on the other side.

For DePaul, Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia once more came up small on the road and against good opponents. 10-21 for 21 points and only 5 rebounds combined. There is no way DePaul can ever hope to win games when the best players on a team long on depth but not talent.

West Virginia goes to 5-3 in the Big East, with 3 home games left and 5 road games remaining. At this point, they can't afford to lose at home if they want a winning record in conference.

The Badgers are well nigh invulnerable at home. On the road, they have kept winning, but not nearly as impressive. They actually give teams hope that they will knock off one of the best teams in the country. Then, Wisconsin proceeds to crush all hope. Today was no different on the road at Iowa.

The Hawkeyes battled back in the first half from a 12 point deficit in the first half to get to halftime down only 4 points. The Badgers then came out in the second half to score the first 6 points and put the lead back to 10 points. Iowa tried again to comeback, getting it to 45-41 inside of 8 minutes. Again Wisconsin clamped down on Iowa and went on an 8-0 run.

It's almost formulaic for the Badgers on the road. They aren't nearly as dominating on the road, but they never let the home team get much more then hope. Never the actual lead.

Alando Tucker continues his pursuit of the Naismith Award with 27 points on 11-14 shooting. Rebounding was surprisingly lacking for Wisconsin. Bryan Butch had 14 and the rest of the team 17 and the Badgers were actually outrebounded by 5. Still, Wisconsin is 7-0 in the Big 10, and a huge match-up at Bloomington looms on Wednesday.

St. John's came into Pittsburgh feeling like it had "turned the corner." They had won 2 straight games at home against the upper-half of the Big East. Not an uncommon thing, for the Red Storm, at this time of the year. This was the test. Could they at least look like they had done more than have a nice little spurt at home or were they actually going to fall back to the lower half of the conference. It turned out to be the latter as Pitt cruised to a 72-46 win.

Pitt didn't blow St. John's out of the game early. It was a slow methodical dismantling. Pitt spent most of the first half taking it inside. Whether trying to feed Aaron Gray or the guards going right into the lane to shoot short jumpers or right to the basket. St. John's was not able to stop Pitt, and struggled to match the offense.

Pitt played a very balanced game with Aaron Gray leading with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Young had 11 points, and eight other Pitt players scored between 4 and 8 points. Pitt had 23 assists on 31 baskets. No player for Pitt played more than 26 minutes. It was half-expected Coach Jamie Dixon go Walter Matthau (that remake never happened!) putting in the scrubs clapping, "Bears rules. Everybody plays!"

Pitt moved to 7-1 in the Big East and has a big road game at Villanova on Monday night.

Suspended Point Guard Kyle McAlarney has decided that he will return to the Irish next fall. It doesn't appear to be out of any loyalty to the school so much as a loyalty/respect for Coach Mike Brey.

McAlarney, a 19-year-old sophomore from Staten Island, will take classes near his hometown this semester, said his father, Patrick. He will have to re-apply to Notre Dame but could return for summer sessions.

...

Brey flew to New York this week to meet with McAlarney.

"It was like the recruiting process all over again for Coach Brey," Patrick McAlarney said. "Coach Brey is a good man and we trust him. Kyle likes him, and that's why he decided to go back."

...

"I'm just thrilled," Brey said. "He and I are a good combination and I was happy to see he feels the same way. We have a good young group and a very good chance of winning his junior and senior year.

"This is the way this story should end: him graduating and being a great guard at Notre Dame. He understands that."

No mention of the school or the treatment of McAlarney, though. You know, considering the surprise over McAlarney being booted out of school the way he was, it seems a little presumptuous of Brey to assume the ending at this point.

The other thing to consider. What if Brey doesn't return? His team had underacheived coming into this season and there was some belief his job security was starting to become a question mark. A great start made it seem moot, but the fact is, ND has yet to win a road game this season, and what happens if they end up with yet another NIT appearance?

I know I've been saying it for a while now, but it feels official now. UConn is going to the NIT. The Huskies lost a home game to Providence 84-72. They didn't just lose. They blew an 11 point halftime lead at home. UConn had the halftime lead, but Providence came out to a 16-0 run to start the second half. The run was extended to 30-8 and UConn was toast. The team collectively hung its head and just tried to get the game finished as quickly as possible. They had no fight.

Credit the Friars who finally got a Big East road win. They had quickly fallen back to reality once they went on the road in conference play. This time, though, they shot tremendously in the second half with 50 second half points. The Huskies had no defense and less offense.

It's one thing to lose at home to Marquette. To lose this way to Providence leaves UConn 2-5 in the Big East. They still have 2 games with Syracuse, a game with Louisville, Villanova and Georgetown. At this point the best win for UConn is St. John's?

It's hard to believe that Jim Boeheim will be coaching his 1,000th game this weekend. I thought he did that years ago.

All of the games have been with Syracuse -- his alma mater -- for now 31 years and his record stands at 741-258 (.742). Only 4 active coaches have more games coached then him:

1. Bob Knight, Texas Tech -- 1,239
2. Jim Calhoun, UConn -- 1,066
3. Lute Olson, Arizona -- 1,048
4. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke -- 1,022

The thing about Boeheim is that he doesn't look like he's changed in ages (the picture is from 1994). A little less hair, better glasses, and maybe some more wrinkles; but not that different looking.

Quite an accomplishment.

Everyone has been weighing in on the fact that ND point guard Kyle McAlarney was dismissed from ND and can't apply for re-admittance until after the summer semester. MJD pointed out the condemnation of the penalty from Garry Parrish from CBS Sportsline. The part that stinks is that they dragged out the decision -- though the fact that school was out of session the prior couple of weeks would be a factor in that. After all, this was the school's Student Affairs Committee. Not so easy to convene when there are members of the SAC on break. McAlarney was charged on December 28.

Still, a month later to decide put the kid in limbo. Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News blasted the mother for being upset at the school.

When I first read Janice McAlarney was telling reporters she was "ashamed," I thought that was kind of a harsh comment to make in public about her son Kyle, the erstwhile starting point guard at Notre Dame.

Ah, but she wasn't talking about Kyle. After Notre Dame suspended him for the semester because of his arrest on marijuana possession charges, she told the Associated Press she was "ashamed of the university. My son is a great kid. He did not deserve this. The punishment did not fit the crime."

Given her attitude, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised McAlarney was arrested for marijuana possession after a policeman stopped his car because, he said, it was being driven erratically. The policeman smelled what he considered to be the odor of marijuana coming from the car, then searched and found a substance police said tested positive for the drug. And all of this happened in the middle of the season, by the way.

If a parent doesn't see this as a very big deal, I'm not sure how a child is going to.

Uhhh, that's a little unfair. Just like Parrish was being a bit unfair by floating the ND screwing McAlarney conspiracy theory (leave that to us tinfoil-wearing irresponsible bloggers).

The kid has to bear responsibility and pay the price. This is his mother, though, and they have been waiting a month to find out. She's probably had a month to kick his butt over the stupidity. He had started classes and was not denying responsibility. He had already gotten into a diversion program for first time offenders with the Prosecutor's office. Of course she would be upset to see him kicked out of school -- not simply suspended from the team. He is stuck taking the semester off and being at home.

The thing I had been wondering about was whether this was a typical decision from the ND SAC for similar violations of the du lac. That would go a lot further to determining the "fairness." ND blogger at Black and Green has an ambiguous answer.

Apparently you haven't heard that just about every other drug case ends up with a semester dismissal from Notre Dame. ND is not like a public school, it's not like Boston College, it's not like any other university in the world. True, this suspension is harsh. You should have thought about your punishment before you decided to light up.

So if this was typical, maybe this is not so out of proportion. Except that it is actually not a single semester suspension. It is two semesters. He can't apply for re-admittance to the summer session and try and catch up on a missed semester -- as pointed out in the comments.

I stand corrected. As of right now, K-Mac's summer suspension is in limbo. A two-semester suspension is harsher than most, although students are home over the Summer.

Unless they are taking summer classes. That's why there's a summer semester. As it stands now, at least three schools -- Xavier, Virginia and Michigan State -- are very interested in McAlarney considering their schools. At least ND doesn't have to worry about him transferring to a Big East school. The Big East has a prohibition on transfers from schools within the conference.