Some All-Name and Most-Traveled fun, some interesting stats and facts..and buy a car from this guy!!

I guess BU will be in for some struggles this season, but I still plan to be there supporting them...we just need to stretch their performance from the first 33 minutes last night into a 40 minute performance.
I think we'll see a clear separation this season between the really good and supportive BU fans and those who are only happy when their expectations are exceeded.
I think it'll be readily apparent and speak for itself........


Here's my early season ALL NAME TEAM...

-Widgett Washington -- he's at Rashad Austin's old school Northeastern (Colorado) Junior College, 6-0 SG
27.5 ppg (#2 nationally), 6.8 rpg, 8.7 apg (5th nationally), 4 spg (6th nationally)

-God's Gift Achiuwa, 16.3 ppg, 12 rpg (14th nationally), 4 bpg (5th nationally)
http://njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?category=stats&sid=5&divid=2&slid=2&collegeId=1662&teamid=106519&athleteid=283962&seasonselect=503

-Luke Sikma - yes, the son of ex-NBA'er Jack Sikma...now plays at Portland University.
Luke had a career game in knocking off Rick Majerus and Saint Louis 69-60.
Luke was 11-17, 26 pts, 8 rebs.
He was lightly recruited, ended up at Portland, and yet has developed into a fine player...averaging 12 points and 12 rebounds per game.
Just like in the Taylor Brown situation, you just can't ignore the bloodlines.

-Elgin CC's Justin Bieber, not that he's putting up great stats, but his name surely must be getting him some ribs when they play on the road...
http://njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?sid=5&collegeid=1293&category=Roster&slid=2&teamid=104769&athleteid=315609

-Mitchell Anderson, Jr. - and this is just because that name brings honor regardless...
but JJ's son is now at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but has yet to play a game yet because of injury...hang in there JJ, Jr.!


Now one more team to honor those who are well traveled...
The ALL-WELL-TRAVELED TEAM..

-Marcus Relphorde, between the high schools, prep schools, jucos, and colleges he's been at, he's had at least 14 different addresses since he burst on the recruiting scene, clearly winning him the most well traveled spot. He's now at Colorado having transferred there after Saint Louis & juco...averaging 10.8ppg for the 3-3 Buffs.

-Beas Hamga -- who is finally burning up his few remaining months of eligibility sitting the bench at UAB

-Manual Cass -- almost as well traveled as Relphorde, been at a dozen or more places, but finally fell out of favor after his stint at Frank Phillips juco and is nowhere to be found.

-Darius Smith -- bounced back and forth on his commitments, then to UConn and now at juco in Idaho - barely averaging 6 ppg.

-Brett Thompson, from Vienna, Illinois -- zoomed to 4-Star then went to Saint Louis, then SIUE, then juco, then finally an obscure D-II, Lindenwood...
averaging 8 ppg, 6 rpg...
http://www.lindenwoodlions.com/custompages/men_basketball/2010-11/teamcume.htm

-Brian Bouchie -- very highly rated kid out of Indiana, spent time at Valpo, Evansville, then just up and disappeared..

-John Wilkins -- much of John Wilkins' bouncing around from one place to the next was due to causes out of his control, and I am still convinced, that factors such and juco jealousies, rivalries, NCAA biases, and and legal system screw-ups had more to do with JW's multiple changes of plans than anything else...
but his desire along with his buddy Flash to milk the system as much as possible cost him offers from big time schools (Iowa State, Providence, and others were clearly very interested) and landed him at a mid-major...but best of luck to him....


One other stat mention...a kid named Phillip Jurick, who spent 2 seasons at Tennessee and never played for Bruce Pearl, is now at Chattanooga State CC..
12.3 ppg, 67% FG shooting, 16 rpg, 5 apg, 10 blocks per game
..was National NJCAA POW
Pretty impressive stats so far!

also ..Darrell Lash - a kid I have never heard of is averaging 13 assists per game!!!
At just 5-11 PG, Lakeland CC, 15.4 ppg, 5 rpg, 13 apg


Last night Booker Woodfox (Creighton) had a bad game in the D-League, going 0-6 in his team's win.

Ex-Boys to Men & ex-Iowa State Craig Brackins was sent by the 76'ers to the D-League.

Other NBDL top performers, some names are familiar...
Trey Johnson, 6-5 sg, Jackson State, 24.2 ppg, 52% FG shooting, 5 asst
Othyus Jeffers, UIC, 6-5 SG/SF, 23.0 ppg, 53% FG shooting 8.3 rpg
Chamberlain Oguchi, 16 ppg, 46% 3-pt shooting


Ex-ICC, ex-UIC, and ex-Quincy basketball player Billy Baptist signed with a European team..
He now plays for UNICAJA- in the ACB- the top pro league in Spain-
http://www.euroleague.net/euroleaguenews/transactions/2010-11-signings/i/79440/4465/unicaja-lands-billy-baptist
http://www.eurobasket.com/Spain/basketball.asp


At Highland CC, Michael Ochereobia still plays behind three other big men who are sophomores there, and gets only 10-13 minutes per game but is doing well.
He typically gets 6-8 ppg, and hits almost all his shots, but still needs to learn to stay out of foul trouble.


A couple other ex-Brave followups...
Danny Granger had a career nite last night, despite lingering flu..
Pacers 107- Kings 98
Danny -- 40 min, 12-19, 37 pts, 7 reb


Non-sports segment......
We have had some bad news and good news in our family this week that I will share...

-The bad news -- Jim died.... Jim was our kids' pet lizard, a gecko with a really fat tail...
But Jim fell ill weeks ago, hadn't snapped up a fly or a grub for weeks, dwindled and passed this morning. But he lived a good long life...at least 15 years, maybe a lot longer..
It's hard to get very attached to a lizard, so it isn't as much of a family tear-jerker as losing the pet cat...but we'll miss Jim, he never complained!
He was originally bought and kept as a pet by one of my oldest son's friends, then given to another friend when the first boy went off to college, then passed on to us as a pet a few years after that...so we've had Jim 6-7 years, and I know he was a pet for at least 7-8 years before that, and who knows how old he might have been when first bought at the pet store, as he was already fully grown!
Some references say their natural life expectancy is 10-20 years both in the wild and in captivity...so Jim didn't die young...

The good news -- I bought a really nice, low mileage, used car for my son who's off at college -- from a salesman who is another fine Bradley fan, someone just about everyone knows, and he's a great auto salesman...
The car still runs great but we discovered a little extra "bonus"...
there's ONE think and only one thing so far that we have found which doesn't operate perfectly...
and the one "problem" just so happens to be a problem we really aren't in any hurry to fix!
My son has already driven the car for 6 months....including two trips back to Peoria (at least 100 mi. each way), two trips to upper Michigan for a friend's wedding (at least 400 miles each way), at least a dozen trips to Chicago where he works one day per week (40 miles each way), plus my son drives the car everywhere he goes, every day, 24/7...and his job takes him all over the upper half of the state.
And -- the "problem" is that after driving the car a MINIMUM of at least 5000-6000 miles by our estimate, the odometer has registered only 800 new miles since the car was purchased...
In other words....only about 1/8 to 1/10 of the miles being driven seem to show on the odometer. Hmmm....the car is immaculate, not a dust spot or ding on it, runs perfectly, great gas mileage, and is sort of a dream car for a young single guy ..and when it develops a "problem", it is a problem I really am not in any hurry to fix....wow!!