Storm Watch: Hurricanes are coming on.

The Miami Hurricanes are 9-0. Not the football team, not the baseball team, but the basketball team is undefeated in mid December. Yes, it is Frank Haith's team that is off to their best start in six years. The Hurricanes are led by Baltimore's own Jack McClinton who is averaging just under 15 points a night. The keys to Miami's success has been their ACC leading 44.1% three point field goal percentage and their 42.9 rebounds per game average (second best in the league). That's a pretty easy formula for success. Grab every rebound and hit a lot of three pointers. What many (including myself) overlooked about this Miami team is that they are huge. They have six players who are at least 6'7 232lbs. This is a huge advantage for a team that does not have the consistent guard play that the upper echelon teams in the league possess. The big men, led by 6'9 242lbs fifth year senior Anthony King have been aggressive both offensively and defensively and have taken some of the pressure off of the guards. This season has progressed exactly how Haith would like......and we'll show you how.

While the Hurricanes have yet to play an ACC game they have played some formidable competition. Their first game of the year against Florida Southern (11/9/07) turned out as expected as the Canes' handled the Mocassins easily. After this game it was off to the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off to take on Marist in the opening round game. Miami took care of Red foxes and it was clear that this year's Miami squad will be able to handle the opponents they should. Game 3 however was a different animal altogether. They took on a very talented VCU team led by big time point guard Eric Maynor. You might remember Maynor (if you don't remember, watch) absolutely abusing the Duke guards in that round of 32 game in last year's NCAA tournament. Well, things weren't much different for Miami's guards as Maynor went off for 27 points and 6 assists but in this contest Miami got a little bit more. McClinton went off for 23 and Anthony King went to work with 10 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks as Miami went on to win by 6 at home. Two days later 6'7 junior guard Brian Asbury dropped 16 (3-4 from three point land) on Providence in the Puerto Rico tip off championship game (11/18/07) as the Canes' would win that contest by six.

Six days later the Hurricanes were back on the main land for the first of three straight home games against Morgan State, Alabama State, and St. John's respectively. The Hurricanes would take care of these challenge pretty easily and beat a decent Florida International team by 13 on the road before heading to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs. This was the first true test for 8-0 Miami as they had yet to face a team with a physically imposing point guard like the Bulldogs Jamont Gordon. Gordon combines NBA size and skills at the point guard position and is a very difficult match up for any college guard. Well if you heard what happened already it was apparent that Jack McClinton didn't get the memo. He lit up the Bulldogs for 29 on 5-10 three point shooting and the Canes' garnered a huge out of conference road win. On that third Sunday in March when the Hurricanes will be at home watching the NCAA tournament show they can be at ease a bit knowing that they won 3 tough out of conference games early on in the season. The new challenge for Frank Haith's squad is to see if they can make it through the ACC regular season unscathed.

ACC Season is here.....and I'll be jumping up and down like I'm in a student section. So should you.

With the regular season officially kicking off tonight it is a great time to revisit the ACC basketball predictions. Many teams have played between 7 and 9 games and the coaches have further established which rotations they will use. Not much has changed at the top but the middle of the pack looks a little bit different. This year the ACC is very competitive as the conference won the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the ninth straight year. ACC teams went a combined 8-3 in the challenge this year proving that once again it is the premiere conference in the country. With this said, here are the updated rankings:

Team Predictions (updated 12/9/07):

1. North Carolina: Still the best. Simply put this team has an unreal amount of talent. They are getting a combined 38.4 points per game from their top 3 wing players (2 starters, 1 bench player). Danny Green is averaging 14 a game on 55% shooting from the field.
2. Duke: Solidly the second best team in this conference. They could have a scare against more experienced opponents like Clemson but they should finish no worse than second this year. Things are going well for you when your 8th man (Taylor King) shoots 50% from three point range and averages just under 10 points per.
3. Maryland: Gary is relying on a lot of freshman this year to provide valuable minutes but they have still have great experience at both guard sports. The key for them is that Eric Hayes is looking to score more. They'll be in good shape all season because their starting backcourt can create scoring opportunities for everyone else. Hayes and Vasquez are averaging a combined 11.4 assists per game.
4. Virginia: Big win at Arizona, tough loss at home against Syracuse (should be noted Sean Singletary had strep throat). The biggest surprise here is the vastly improved play of Adrian Joseph. The 6'7 forward is averaging 12 points and about 9 rebounds per game. Virginia will get some much needed help on defense when Tunji Soroye returns in mid to late January.
5. Clemson: Clemson is undefeated again at this point in the season but this year they have played some more formidable opponents. They also have 4 guys scoring in double figures each night.
6. North Carolina State: They have dropped due to 3 bad losses. I know they are lacking a point guard but you can't lose to East Carlina, get blown out at Michigan State, and lose to New Orleans at home. They'll be better once Tennessee transfer Marques Johnson becomes eligible next semester.
7. Florida State: This team is off to a great start (9-2). They have a great resume win against in-state rival Florida and really haven't gotten much from their highly touted freshman big men yet. Once Julian Vaughn becomes a bit more comfortable he and Alabi should really help this team inside.
8. Boston College: They are also off to a decent start but they still lack scoring and outside shooting. Two of their top 3 point shooters are freshmen.
9. Georgia Tech: Their record (4-4) doesn't indicate the type of team they have. They have played quality competition thus far while trying to recover from losing their starting point guard and small forward from last season. Getting 6-8, 235lbs. Zach Peacock will help the Jackets in both three point shooting and rebounding. He's tough on the opponents big man.
10. Miami: Undefeated Miami has more than exceeded expectations up to this point. I still think they will struggle in the ACC but they have definitely much better than last year. Great win on the road at Providence as well.
11. Virginia Tech: Less than impressive point guard play and youth in the backcourt will be difficult for them to overcome.
12. Wake Forest: Wake is slowly rebuilding. They have a very talented freshman in James Johnson and highly touted recruiting class coming in next year.

Medford's Finest: Kyle Singler

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Duke Freshman Kyle Singler was the biggest thing to happen to his hometown - Medford, Oregon- in the last half-century. Medford rallied around Singler as he carried his South Medford High School team to state supremacy and national renown.

Kyle's father, mother and grandfather (among other family members) were Pac-10 athletes, so his pedigree is true. His high school team featured his brother and younger cousin: three fundamentally-sound Singlers running circles around their competition. Were it not for Lake Oswego's Kevin Love (son of former NBAer Stan Love), Singler most likely would have won back-to-back-to-back state titles.

Singler's array of skills led his legion of gap-toothed followers on a statewide barnstorm, especially during his Junior and Senior year, as the Medford faithful made the hours-long trip up Interstate 5 to watch him play in nationally-recognized tournaments like the Les Schwab Invitational.

Watching Singler in high school, what stood out were his fundamentals, consistency and competitive edge. It's fairly common to see the most-skilled player on the court working his ass off to win games; it's less common to see the same player play end line to end line for 40 full minutes. It's even less common to see that player, at 16 or 17 years of age, playing the game hard, to win, and playing it the right way: boxing out, bounce passes, ball in the triple-threat position immediately upon receiving a pass on the wing, dribbling with his head up at all times, making free throws, getting low when playing defense in the post. The kid just does it all, and does it all well.

In conclusion, Kyle Singler was born to play for Duke University and Coach K. He knows it, the Medford faithful know it, and soon a national audience will know it.

- Ben Golliver
(http://draftkevindurant.blogspot.com/)