Hilton Magic

We'll start with catching up on a few links.

First from the Register:
Interview with Coach Morgan touching on his east coast roots, Jimi Hendrix, and two of my favorite Hilton Magic moments. The first is the end of the Texas game when the crowd got into Boddicker's head and helped him miss those two free throws. Definitely one of the loudest moments I remember.

The second was watching Colorado completely melt under the pressure of 14,000 screaming fans. They were throwing the ball into the fifth row just about every other trip down the floor during our big run. Good times.

The article from Big 12 media day. This raises the questions, "will Jared Homan actually shoot some threes this year?" and "do we want him to?" He was 1-1 in the Shootout so maybe we do. From all accounts he has really worked hard this offseason and should be a force. Picking up a few points from him will really help offset the loss of Vroman and you know he's still going to be a monster on the boards and playing D.

Preaseason All-Big 12 First Teamer Curtis Stinson. Plan on him dominating the league this year.

Here are the Big 12 preseason selections.
2004-05 BIG 12 PRESEASON MEDIA SELECTIONS
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Preseason Player of the Year Wayne Simien, Kansas, G, 6-9, 255, Sr., Leavenworth, Kan./Leavenworth
Preseason Newcomer of the Year Taj Gray, Oklahoma, F, 6-8, 235, Jr., Wichita, Kan./Redlands (Okla.) Community College**
Preseason Freshman of the Year Daniel Gibson, Texas, G, 6-2, 190, Fr., Houston, Texas/Jones
Preseason All-Big 12 Media Team
Name, School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl-Exp PPG RPG Hometown/Previous School(s)
Keith Langford, Kansas G 6-4 215 Sr.-3L 15.5 5.0 Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley
Wayne Simien, Kansas F 6-9 255 Sr.-3L 17.8 9.3 Leavenworth, Kan./Leavenworth
Curtis Stinson, Iowa State G 6-3 215 So.-1L 16.2 6.0 Bronx, N.Y./Winchendon (Mass.) Prep
Joey Graham, OSU G 6-7 217 Sr.-1L 12.4 5.2 Brandon, Fla./Brandon/UCF
John Lucas, OSU G 5-11 152 Sr.-1L 15.1 2.8 Houston, Texas/Bellaire/Baylor Univ.
** - unanimous selection
Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically by school):Kansas: J.R. Giddens, Aaron Miles; Missouri: Linas Kleiza; Oklahoma: Kevin Bookout; Texas: P.J. Tucker; Texas A&M: Antoine Wright; Texas Tech: Jarrius Jackson.

Obviously a very solid team and it speaks well to Stinson's talent and performance last year that he is the only non-senior on the team and the only player not on the two heavy favorites in the league.

Media Day info and quotes from the Big 12 site. Coach Mogan, Jared Homan, and Curtis Stinson all attended.

Predictions from the KC Star. ISU picked 6th at 9-7 in the conference. Stinson first team. Will Blaylock listed as one of the top three point shooters in the league this year. Jake Sullivan listed as one of the three all-time best in the Big 12. He is the only player to be in the top five in both three pointers made and percentage. His 44.3 career percent is amazing to me considering the struggles he had on the road during his last two years. I still feel that a lot of this perception comes from his unbelievable shooting at home which I had the pleasure to witness for four years.

ISU capsule from the Star.

That's about all I have to start out with but I'll see if I can get going on some more later. The exhibition season tips off tomorrow against Bemidji State.