In the year 2525...

A big congrats to Spuds McKenzie’s son, Rufus, for winning the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Spuds fell out of favor when he married Rufus’s mom, Coco, but this is validation for Spuds. Now he can crap in everyone’s beer.

At least it was a real dog that won that thing. Not some rat with long legs. And what a good dog name. Not something pretentious or stupid. Rufus sounds like the kind of name that your neighbor’s dog would have.

I know that the UConn-Nova game was 2 days ago, but I didn’t get the chance to say anything about it yesterday. I loved how UConn didn’t know how to react after Nova came back after UConn’s 13-0 2nd half start. It was like that was UConn’s best shot, and they knew it, so when Nova came back they didn’t have an answer.

But what I really took away from this game was how overrated JJ Redick really is. Allan Ray was lights out in that game. He’s a very good shooter, but probably a step below Redick. But the rest of his game is better than Redick’s. He’s a better on the ball and team defender, he can handle, he’s quick, and he knows how to finish in the lane. And even though Randy Foye didn’t have a big night I think his game is very similar. Maybe its just me but I wouldn’t say that Redick’s shooting alone makes him a better player than either of these guys. Ray is 6’2” and Foye is 6’4” (at least that’s what Nova says they are) so both are going to have to run some point at the next level. Now I know that I would feel a lot more comfortable with Ray or Foye running my team, even for a short time, than Redick. Redick’s a great shooter, probably the best long-range shooter in college basketball history, but he’s not even close to a complete player. And I know I’ve been beating a dead horse with this, but I just don’t understand how anyone thinks Redick is going to be a star.

I’ve been thinking about it and the closest NBA comparison I can make for Redick is either Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton. But the one thing that jumps out at me is that these guys played complete games in college. Allen and Hamilton could both get to the hoop AND finish. Now since they’ve been in the NBA their games have changed. Allen is pretty much just a jump shooter now and Hamilton is a catch and shoot guy. Both fit into their system well. If Redick gets into the right system he may be successful, but I don’t consider Allen or Hamilton to be super stars, so I don’t see how that will work for JJ.