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So Wednesday we established that the Athlon Sports preseason magazine is one that you probably shouldnt take home with you. Unless youre the type of person who goes gaga over seeing your favorite team/player on the cover and must own them all in a rick majerus quest to document every newsworthy event involving it throughout history. Consider this excitable Carolina fans tale we stumbled across today (re: the Athlon issue)&

Hey, we dont judge. So heres the second installment of our continuing series of reviews of the preseason magazines.

Next Up: Lindys.

 

I. Covers (5 pts) - are they cool? inclusive?

• 21 regional covers is a nice number, but the Rocky Mtn states arent represented in the least - Does Lindys realize that the Mountain West and WAC have fans too?
• Coolest Cover - none - theyre pretty much all the same format, with multiple players photographically stacked on top of each other.
• Say What? The Tennessee issue highlights UT, Memphis, Vandy and the Lady Vols?? The NE issue features UConn, BC and something called the Lady Huskers, which we assume is supposed to be Huskies. Either way, we have no tolerance for this.
• Total Points = 2

II. Ease of Use (5 rick majerus - how hard is it to find confs/teams?

• Somewhat difficult upon first glance. Eleven major conferences are arranged alphabetically, then by predicted order of finish of its teams. The rest of the conferences are shoved into the back of the mag with the teams arranged alphabetically within. Confusing.
• Standard format otherwise - roundup, features & predictions; analysis of teams; recruiting, in that order.
• Total Points = 2.5

III. Roundup (10 pts) - every mag has one - tell us something new!

• Scoping the Nation dives into the one-and-done phenomenon, rick majerus pretty much makes the same assessment we made here back in May - that coaches at the elite programs recognize the necessity in assuming the risk of taking potential one-and-dones. The potential reward, as in the cases of Greg Oden and Mike Conley for Thad Matta at Ohio St., is simply too much to pass up. They also take a look at the ten most likely one-and-dones for this season and next.
• The Nov/Dec Action to Check Out section is a bit of a copout by Lindys in the sense that its early publication resulted in not being able to review full schedules. Still, they make an attempt by reviewing the big pre-conference game possibilities in the holiday tournaments.
• Lots of Lists - thats ok, we like lists.
  • Top 10 under the radar players
  • Top rick majerus transfer players
  • Top 10 juco transfers
  • Top 10 jump shooters
  • Top 5 defenders
• Lindys also provides a complete Top 25 (+15 fringe teams), a listing of the NCAA field of 65 by conference, as well as rick majerus of the Sweet 16 and Final Four.
• There is also a complete list of coaching changes and the conferences are rated first (Pac-10) to worst (SWAC).
• We also appreciated seeing deserving blurbs on Rick Majeruss return to college coaching at St. Louis, and Skip Prossers passing at Wake.
• They also rate the Top 25 players at each position&
  • PG - Drew Neitzel (Michigan St.)
  • SG - Chris Lofton (Tennessee)
  • SF - Brandon Rush (Kansas)
  • PF - Tyler Hansbrough (UNC)
  • C - Roy Hibbert (Georgetown)
• &and the top frontcourt (UCLA) and backcourt (UNC).
• Cool Stat Award. Utah St. guard Jaycee Carrolls shooting numbers - .527 from the field, .432 on threes, and .888 from the foul line!
• Total Points = 9

IV. Features (15 pts) - give us some insightful and unique storylines.

• Kentucky-centric. Three of their feature articles relate to the UK head coaching position - Tubbys leaving of the job (Hes Gone), Billy Ds courting of the job along with his about-face with Orlando (He Couldnt Leave), and Gillispies acceptance of the job (Billy & verycnnblog.blogspot.com Believers).
• Whats Good for the Zags& is a good article about the pressures that other mid-major programs (even the successful ones) now face in light of the Gonzaga Effect.
  
• Embracing Kelvin is an insightful piece about the my way or the highway coaching style of Kelvin Sampson, and validates why we expect big things from IU this season.
• Early and Often is a somewhat weaker article describing how coaches are faced with recruiting players earlier and earlier in high school (and sometimes back into junior high).
• Total Points = 11
  

V. Predictions (20 pts) - how safe are their picks? do they take any chances? are they biased toward the big boys?

• Lindys uses both the 65-team prediction model and the Top 25, as discussed above. Like Athlon, they too have UCLA defeating UNC in the final game, but we give them a little bit of credit for projecting first-timer Tennessee into the F4. They dont predict an Elite Eight, but only half of their Sweet 16 made it there rick majerus 2007, which is realistic.
• Big Conference Bias. Still, 14 of that Sweet 16 are from BCS conferences - Gonzaga and Memphis are the only exceptions. NCAA Bids - ACC (5), Big Ten (4), Big 12 (5), Big East (8), Pac-10 (7), SEC (7).
• Mid-Major Watch. Mid-Major bids misr digital A10 (Xavier, St. Joes, St. Louis), 2 CAA (George Mason, VCU), 2 CUSA (Memphis, UAB), 1 Mountain West (BYU), 1 WAC (New Mexico St.), 1 MVC (S. Illinois).
• Surprising Omissions. Florida loses everyone, but are there really seven better teams in the SEC this year? Billy D. has the #1 recruiting class coming into Gainesville. We also think Lorenzo Romars Washington squad is primed for a return to the NCAAs this year. Also, we gotta believe that the always-underrated MVC will manage to get another team in there, while seven (Georgia and Vandy??) from the SEC is a little ridiculous this year.
• Boldest Prediction. Again, Lindys doesnt go too far out rick majerus a limb with any of their picks, but Alabama winning the SEC West completely depends on Ronald Steeles knees, rick majerus Cornell winning the Ivy League is also dubious.
• Total Points = 14

VI. Conference Pages (5 pts) - as a primer for the conference, how much can we learn here?

• The major and mid-major conferences get a predicted order of finish with brief analysis, a substantial recruiting roundup, three teams of all-conference selections, returning leaders in key categories, team tom brady and a fair superlatives section. While we appreciate a focus on acquainting readers with the newcomers, we would have liked to have seen less space used on this in favor of the returners.
• The small conferences get a predicted order of finish, two teams of all-conference selections and a superlatives section.
• Total Points = 3.5

VII. Team Pages (20 pts) - how in-depth is the analysis? where does it rick majerus from? is it timely and insightful given this years squad or is it just a rundown of last years achievements?

• Lindys Top 40 teams get a full page of analysis, including player evaluations and team statistical rankings.
• All other BCS and mid-major teams get a brief half-page of analysis with the same evaluations/rankings. Low major teams (even if predicted to make the NCAA Tourney) get a paragraph and a few key stats. Minimal info.
• Again, rick majerus to Athlon, analysis is lacking. Much of it is based on recapping last tab thacker accomplishments plus the obligatory coachs quotes. For teams outside the rick majerus 40, they barely get a mention.
• Total Points = 12

VIII. Recruiting (5 pts) - we want to know who the top players are rick majerus into college bball, where theyre going and who to watch for next year.

• As mentioned above, each major conference page has a substantial section on newcomers and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
• Six pages of recruiting information, featuring the top 25 recruiting classes with a brief description of each.
• The top 50 of 2007 is provided by Rivals.com, but Lindys focuses on the future classes more than present, listing the top 100 for both 2008 and 2009, plus the top 10 for 2010.
• They also provide some much-needed context and analysis from Justin Young at Rivals.
• Total Points = 5

IX. Title IX Guilt (aka Chick Ball) (5 pts) - the less the better&

• We already established that theyre putting some womens players on the cover.
• They also give it four pages in the front rick majerus section, with a detailed top 25 and fifteen All-Americans. Unacceptable.
• Total Points = 1

X. Intangibles (15 pts) - whats good and bad about the magazine rick majerus a whole?

• Errors. Were not sure if the cause is shoddy editing or what, but who and what are Reyshawn Green Terry (formerly of UNC) (p.9), David Lightly Lighty (Ohio St.) (p.18) and Gongzaga Gonzaga (p.28)? - these errors were found in the first few pages and seemed pervasive throughout, mitigating the mags credibility from the start.
• Whereas Lindys provides far more interesting detail in almost every other area over Athlon, its writing (and clearly its editing) is weaker on the whole.
• Again, no schedules due to rick majerus early publication date.
• It takes some risks with its predictions (which we rick majerus but its analysis really doesnt explain why, rick majerus Georgia is an NCAA Tournament team and Florida isnt.
• Total Points = 9

RTC Grade for Lindys = 69 pts

Basis: Lindys is a better magazine on the whole than Athlon, but it has serious weaknesses with respect to its team analyses. Where it excels is in the areas of roundup and recruiting information, but it needs better writing, editing and much more consideration of the smaller conferences. A little more attention to detail would make this magazine a legit value in future iterations.

Grading Scale:

• 90-100 pts - exceptional quality in all areas - must buy and keep on-hand all season!
• 80-89 pts - very good quality mag - worthy of purchasing and reading cover-to-cover
• 70-79 pts - average, run of the mill magazine - some value in certain areas but weak in others - tough call as to whether to purchase it
• 60-69 pts - magazine on the weaker side, but may still have some positive attributes - probably not worth the money, though
• 0-59 pts - such a low quality magazine that its not worth any more than the five minutes you thumbed through it at the store

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Post je objavljen 11.01.2008. u 23:38 sati.