Sometimes being right just isn’t any fun. The Fizz almost ¬†unanimously¬†predicted¬†this morning that Nerlens Noel was headed for Kentucky. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. The appeal of filling the void Anthony Davis left was just too strong as Noel said after¬†declaring his decision. The announcement itself was both cool and fittingly slimy. It was cool that he shaved UK into his head. But it also was a little uncomfortable that after all the rumors and speculation around his “decision” that¬†N2 used the exact same wording as Lebron James¬†in “taking his talents to Lexington.”
* * *
Tonight at 7:30p on ESPNU Nerlens Noel finally announces whether he’ll play basketball at Syracuse, Kentucky or Georgetown. If you ask Noel though, he’s not keeping a secret because he hasn’t made up his mind.¬†Just yesterday he suggested the decision was still in the air. Whether you believe that, this evening Orange Nation and Hoya fans will sit on their couches watching him pick a hat that won’t fit over his high-top fade. Wildcat fans will be sitting on the floor. They burned all their couches.
Here’s Team Fizz’s predictions:
D.A.¬†– Kentucky.¬†“I’ve felt all along he was heading to Kentucky. The Wildcats have a dominant track record of pulling in the very best one-and-done players since John Calipari got there. Cal had this cottage industry on lockdown even dating back to his Memphis days. National title, Anthony Davis’ surge to celebrity status, NBA Draft success AND the deepest bank accounts? (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) It’s going to be the Wildcats. Good swing by SU, but just not enough.”
Craig Hoffman – Kentucky: “Noel can’t possibly ask for more than Anthony Davis’ experience, and the chance to replace him is just too tempting. Davis won every award possible, the national championship and will be the top pick in the draft. Noel goes to UK and tries to repeat that.”¬†
Alex Plavin – Kentucky: “I think he’s headed to Lexington. It just makes too much sense with Calipari and his one-and-dones. There’s a natural hole in the middle there. It would be incredible if he chose Syracuse, but I just don’t see it.”¬†
Dave Van Moffaert – Georgetown: “He will carry on the lineage of great Hoya big men. N2 likes the idea of being the focal point of the JT3 offense. He becomes the next dominating Georgetown player in the paint.”¬†
Andrew Kanell – Kentucky: “‘Goin to shock the world’ is actually recruit-speak for ‘I’m going to do exactly what everyone expects and go to Kentucky.’”
Kevin Fitzgerald – Kentucky: “Despite his relationships with MCW and Mike Hopkins, which are huge factors, it’s hard to argue with the reports of everyone around N2 saying the big guy is leaning UK. He’s one-and-done anyway, and Coach Cal reels in those players better than anyone else.”¬†
Jake Moskowitz – Syracuse: “When Nerlens says he’s going to ‘shock the world’ after 12 classmates AND most prominent talking heads in the recruiting world seem to think he’s off to UK, it means he’s coming to SU. Syracuse has been on him since the beginning, he was at Midnight Madness for a grand show featuring Carmelo (the most well known one-and-done in SU history), and the relationship with MCW is the most important in all of this. Expect N2 in Orange.”
The Fizz’s Nerlens Noel Coverage:¬†
- N2 Says He’ll Shock the World, but his Peers Disagree
- The Darkhorse: How Much Effect Does Georgetown’s Lineage Play?
- FizzCast: Kanell & Mosk Debate the N2 Sweepstakes
- Three Up, Three Down: What’s the Best Assets of UK, SU, GU
- Would SU’s Frontcourt be the Best in the Nation with Nerlens?
- Hate UK’s Title? Beware, Noel Might be the Same for the Orange
- Terrifying Sight for Recruiters: John Calipari with a Ring 
- DC 2.0, Jerami Grant & Nerlens Ball Together at All-Star Game
- Shady Characters: NY Times Pulls Back Curtain on N2’s Recruitment
- Nerlens is Excited About a Potential SU Transformers Lineup
Handicapping his three options is pointless. ESPN’s Dave Telep tweeted this morning, “Nerlens Noel is not a case where ‘behind the scenes’ people know. Staffs are in the dark. As of 10:50, no one knows. Theories abound.” We can however, size up the final three schools.
Georgetown doesn’t make sense. Yes, there’s the appeal of being the next high-topped big man who is a dominant defender. Playing in a Princeton offense where everything runs through you is enticing too. But you want to win? It’s a roster losing Jason Clark, Hollis Thompson and Henry Sims. Does Noel look at Otto Porter, Markel Starks, Jason Trawick and Nate Lubick and believe he can make a deep March run? If Thompson didn‚Äôt declare for the NBA Draft it’s a totally different situation. Noel, Thompson and Porter could‚Äôve been one of the best frontcourts in the nation. Lubick and Greg Whittington aren‚Äôt doing it for me.
Syracuse’s lineup is the most exciting in the nation right now, but if Shabazz Muhammad chooses Kentucky that changes. A lineup of Michael Carter-Williams, Brandon Triche, C.J. Fair, Rak Christmas and Noel is straight nasty. Add in the flexibility that James Southerland, Trevor Cooney and DaJuan Coleman bring, and SU would likely be the preseason top dawg.
There’s also the MCW factor. Noel keeps talking about how he loves the family atmosphere at SU and there’s no doubt Carter-Williams is a huge huge part of that. They’re New England boys (Noel from Massachusetts and Mike from Rhode Island). They go way back. They would be living out childhood dreams, running pick and rolls together at the college level. That has to be a huge draw for Noel.
But the 800-pound gorilla is still Kentucky. At the end of the day, this is a business decision (*flips the bird to NCAA*). What more could you possibly want out of your college experience than to improve your NBA stock, go to a basketball crazy state, defend and play for a national title, and also be the NBA’s top pick? Anthony Davis just created the template for you. He’s gone, now you slide in. It’s hard to imagine passing that up. The other two options have plenty of appeal, but his safest bet is to become the newest cog of Big Blue Nation.
The Fizz has Noel’s decision covered from every angle. Stay locked into our Twitter page @OrangeFizz for updates throughout the day. We’ll also have a special edition Fresh Fizzcast tonight following the decision with college basketball insiders to break it all down. N2: Judgement Day. The immediate future of three schools is shaped today by a high-top fade tonight.
Posted: Craig Hoffman
85 responses to “Fresh FizzCast: Team Coverage on Nerlens Noel Choosing Kentucky”
My prediction: PAIN
My prediction is that it may not matter where Noel goes. Everyone thinks he’s going to be the next Anthony Davis, and his all star game numbers have been pedestrian in comparison to Davis’ a year ago. If he goes to SU, he has a chance at a Final Four. Same is true of Kentucky. Unless he’s bringing half his HS teammates with him, Georgetown may struggle to make the tournament. SU could go to the Final Four without Noel. Rakeem will be better next year, and I really think we got a taste of how good Baye is going to be next year with his performance against Ohio State. You all won’t be able to call him the corpse of Baye Moussa Keita any longer. Oh yeah, and don’t forget DaJuan Coleman. The kid’s a beast and a rebounding machine. Wait till he’s spent the summer at the Jim Boeheim strength and conditioning camp. I think national people are sleeping big time on Coleman and SU. In case everyone forgot, MCW is a McDonald’s All American too. James and C.J. will be back with bigger roles and more well rounded games. Finally, Trevor Cooney and some Triche guy can shoot any team in the country out of a zone. Oh yeah, and Jerami Grant will be ready to come in off the bench at 6’8″ and ridiculously athletic. SU will be fine either way. Jon Rothstein is right. The hand wringing should be going on at Georgetown and UK today, not in Syracuse.
Check zags twitter. Not coming to the orange
Andrew Kanell – Kentucky: “‘Goin to shock the world’ is actually recruit-speak for ‘I’m going to do exactly what everyone expects and go to Kentucky.’”
Kanell nailed it and Calipari grabs another one.
so do u think he got 500,000 like AD or he got a cool mill? How can any1 beat world wide wes, CAA an uk’s rich booosters? Face it if u want a kid an uk wants a kid u better get bank rollz rdy or u might as well move on. The NCAA wont leave us alone but turnning a blind eye to that stuff goin on in lex. Sad pray the knicks take cal outta lex or this gonna happen every yr. The ncaa has no ballz it wont go after a blue blood plain an simple.
Spring game is 9 days away. Quit this BB hype. Its done!!! How about some FB meat already!!! Already national media is saying Syracuse are going to be 5-7 this season!!! Yeah it looks like silence is HCDM’s savior!!!
Carlton, you are so right! Not really! You sound stupid. You have any proof that Kentucky is doing anything wrong? Yet Syracuse coachies are raping kids!
Markus- maybe u missed it over the weekend but im sure u can google it just like u can google the whole AD story. Also check the nytimes story on noel. Im done cuttin u up troll. Run along find one of ur cousins to bed down.
But who will do all the house work? Slow down!Congratulations!He used to learn everything by rote.Which would you prefer? Did you hear about the new project?Could you tell me your secret for a long, happy life? I will arrange everything.My brother is see king a job.I would be very grateful for information about entry to your college.
I simply want to mention I’m newbie to blogging and really enjoyed you’re page. Very likely I‚Äôm want to bookmark your blog post . You certainly have great posts. Thanks a bunch for sharing with us your website page.
Hafner@gmail.com
Fabiszewski@gmail.com
Harral@gmail.com
Belrose@gmail.com
Averbach@gmail.com
Kempe@gmail.com
Pour trouver à qui appartient un numéro de téléphone, utilisez notre annuaire inversé gratuit !
I intended to draft you that bit of remark in order to give thanks over again for all the pleasant suggestions you have discussed in this case. This is quite surprisingly generous of people like you to present freely precisely what numerous people could possibly have marketed for an electronic book to earn some dough on their own, most importantly considering the fact that you might well have done it in case you considered necessary. The thoughts in addition served like a easy way to understand that other individuals have the identical zeal like mine to know the truth way more when considering this condition. Certainly there are thousands of more pleasant occasions up front for those who looked at your blog.
Everything is very untie with a earn rationalization of the issues. It was really informative. Your website is fantastically helpful. Be grateful you for sharing!
I wanted to type a brief remark to appreciate you for the great facts you are giving out at this site. My time consuming internet search has now been compensated with really good strategies to exchange with my friends. I ‘d suppose that most of us website visitors actually are extremely fortunate to live in a fine site with so many wonderful individuals with very beneficial things. I feel very much privileged to have encountered the website page and look forward to plenty of more cool minutes reading here. Thanks once more for all the details.
I want to start a review blog. My friend and I would be reviewing books, games, toys etc..
You have done a best wishes. I is sure to dig this and personally recommend in order to my pals. I was confident they shall be benefited from this site.
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I certainly loved every bit of it. I have got you bookmarked to look at new stuff you post…
How do I create a feed of the comments I add to others’ blog posts?
Merely a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw great design .
Would becoming a paid blogger be a good idea to get money?
Also, what degrees (if anyone) would be required to be an independent creative writing teacher?.
I’m really into photography and would quite like a job involving it however i do NOT want to take pictures of people (weddings and stuff), i like taking arty/creative pictures. I also love writing and I have been thinking of writing for a teenage magazine and hopefully being able to get photography in there as well. Has anybody got any ideas on what job I could do that involves my kind of photography and writing and how I could get there. At the moment I’m 16..
ive got alot of free time on my hands recently, so ive decided to start blogging again, . . does anybody know any good blogging sites which are free and easy to use?? (apart from tumbr and blogger/google ). . thanks (:.
How hard is it to write a wordpress theme to fit into an existing site?
I’m looking for a free or cheap webhost to move my Joomla website to from my localhost. I want a webhost that doesn’t use Fantastico as its only method of installation? Any suggestions?.
I’m looking for clothing and style ideas at a reasonable prices for a woman over 25.. . Anyone know any good sites or blogs?. . Seems like everything I find is either geared toward teens or is insanely expensive couture.. . Thanks!.
Blogspot blog: How do I get rounded corners for my backgrounds?
I want to do a live webcast, but I can’t figure out how to do it on the Blogger platform. Can anyone give me some direction?. . Thanks!.
Is there a way to report a website for violating copyright of articles and images?
Does anybody know by purchasing one a high price ticket if you can utilize 3-4 companion passes? That I equally and my spouse have US Airways cards and we have two pieces of spouse passes.
my blog is a link on my web home page and I would like it to show the posts from the blog? Any ideas?
How long can my computer keep running with an outdated browser?
Ja mam gdzieś około 4k komentów do scrapeboxa (znalezione w sieci), za 10zł mogę się podzielić
Where can I take a creative writing class in Chicago this summer?
How do I copy my WordPress blog onto my computer so I can locally edit and try out plugins before publishing?
Dne 01.09. jsme pozastavili prodej produktu Vimax kvuli nálezu léciva sildenafil v šarži LOT:1212 EX:DE16. Sildenafil se nemuže pridávat do doplnku stravy. Pokud máte doma balení z této šarže, mužete nám ho vrátit a my Vám vrátime peníze v plné výši.
I can’t subscribe to your channel
Infertility Treatments For Women – Get Pregnant Fast Even When You Are Over 40 at:: InfertilityCure.tk
The State inspection report notes that Bright Start teachers were not following a policy of using written attendance sheets because it was Christmas Eve.
There are many smart points right here with i agree. I‚Äôll have pondered a variety of them, nevertheless that’s why I enjoy this particular write-up.
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for surveys that pay cash
I need to to thank you for this great read!! I absolutely loved every bit of it. I’ve got you saved as a favorite to check out new things you post‚Ķ
Many parents worry that the business they invest in today might be gone in a few years Рand certainly worry about risk over 21 years. By selecting our services, parents are assured that their baby’s cord blood is stored at a highly credentialed facility that will be there for a lifetime and beyond.
Hey! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing several weeks of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?