Kentucky, N. Carolina, UCLA, Kansas, and Duke "The Phat 5" of College Basketball at 500 Report Volume #3

(PRWeb) December 6, 2006 -- "The Phat 5" of College Basketball at 500 Report Volume #3

Kentucky 104 years, 1903-2006-07
N. Carolina 97 years, 1911-2006-07
UCLA 88 years, 1920-2006-07
Kansas 109 years, 1899-2006-07
Duke 102 years, 1906-2006-07

"The Phat 5" of College Basketball at 500 Report Volume #3 is dedicated to John R. Wooden. The legendary coach known as "The Wizard of Westwood" guided the UCLA Bruins to 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years. Coach Wooden is considered the "Greatest" basketball coach of All-Time by his peers and the sports media. He is one of three individuals to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (Purdue) and coach (Indiana St., UCLA). He led UCLA to 4 undefeated seasons (1964, 67, 72, and 73). Coach Wooden developed the NBA All-Time leading scorer and 6-time NBA World Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor). He also coached basketball legends Bill Walton, Gail Goodrich, Jamal Wilkes, Sidney Wicks, and Marques Johnson. The National College Basketball Player of the Year since 1977 has been named in his honor The John R. Wooden Award.

On November 17, 2006 Coach Wooden (UCLA) was one of the 5 members inducted into the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame including Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Dean Smith (UNC), and Dr. James Naismith (Kansas).

The "Super 5" of "The Phat 5"

Kentucky- Randolph Morris is averaging 17 ppg. and 7.9 rpg.
N. Carolina- Tyler Hansbrough is averaging 18.7 ppg. and 8.7 rpg.
UCLA- Arron Afflalo is averaging 16.7 ppg.
Kansas- Darrell Arthur (freshman) is averaging 15.1 ppg. and 6.4 rpg.
Duke- Josh McRoberts is averaging 11.3 ppg., 6.8 ppg., and 4.0 apg.

Randolph Morris had a very impressive game against vs. N. Carolina in a losing cause scoring 21 points on 10-11 shooting. Tyler Hansbrough scored only 7 points in the win vs. Kentucky on 2-10 from the field. Tyler has scored less than 10 points only 3 times during his 2-year career at UNC, two of those games were against Kentucky. Arron Afflalo is leading the UCLA attack that is the #1 ranked team in both the new ESPN/ USA Today and Associated Press polls. Brandon Rush has not elevated his game to the "Super 5" of "The Phat" level and is now being replaced by freshman Darrell Arthur who is leading the team in scoring and is second in rebounding. Josh McRoberts has improved his scoring and rebounding for the Blue Devils who are now in the top 10 in both polls. Josh has the best all-around game of the "Super 5."

Kentucky 5-3 unranked in both polls, the 'Big Blue' of Lexington was ranked #20 during volume #2 and had a 3-0 record. Since then they have gone 2-3 with losses to "Phat 5" member UCLA 73-68 (11/21) in the second round of the Maui Invitational, 80-63 (11/22) to Memphis, and to another "Phat 5" member N. Carolina this past Saturday (12/02) 75-63. There two wins was at home vs. the College of Charleston 77-61 (11/28) and UT-Chattatooga 79-63 (12/5). UK will need to win 4-5 of their next games to create some positive momentum going into SEC regular-season play.

12/09 Indiana (IU is the 6th ranked program of All-Time).
12/16 @ Louisville (U of L coach Rick Pitino led UK back to glory as head coach from 1989-97).
12/19 Santa Clara
12/22 UMass
12/29 E. Kentucky

N. Carolina 6-1 ranked #3 in both the ESPN/ USA Today and AP polls, the Tar Heels visited the "Big Apple" unbeaten and ranked #2 in both polls. They were defeated by #18 Gonzaga 82-74 (11/22). UNC bounced back with an dominating road win over then #22 ranked Tennessee 101-87 (11/24). Carolina was then ready for the nationally televised showdown with #1 Ohio State who came into Chapel Hill without freshman phenom Greg Oden. Oden watched from the bench as his Buckeyes were out gunned by UNC 98-89 (11/29). This past Saturday (12/02) they were to host the Kentucky Wildcats. The stage was set #1(UK) All-Time vs. #2 (UNC) All-Time, "Phat 5" vs. "Phat 5." UNC won going away 75-63. The Heels have 5 up-coming games that they should win just before the start of ACC regular-season play.

12/09 High Point
12/16 UNC-Asheville
12/19 Florida Atlantic
12/22 @ St. Louis
12/28 Rutgers

UCLA 7-0 ranked #1 in both the ESPN/ USA Today and AP polls, the Bruins were the # 2 ranked team in the polls last week before "Phat 5" member UNC cleared the way for them to be #1. UCLA won the Maui Invitational posting wins over "Phat 5" member Kentucky 73-68 (11/21) and then routed #19 ranked Georgia Tech 88-73. The Bruins ran off a 30-point defeat at the expense of Long Beach St. 88-58 (11/28). UC Riverside was next in line and was defeated 61-38. The Bruins remained undefeated when they handled CS-Fullerton 78-54 (12/05). Coach Ben Howland has UCLA playing the East-Coast style of defense that makes them very difficult to beat. The Bruins have 4 more games before the start of PAC 10 regular-season play. UCLA looks like a sure fire contender for a March back to the Final Four.

12 /09 #6 Texas A&M The John R. Wooden Classic.
12/16 Oakland
12/19 Sam Houston
12/23 Michigan
12/28 Washington St. (the start of PAC 10 regular season play).

Kansas 7-2 ranked #13 in both the ESPN/ USA Today and AP polls, the Jayhawks have had a roller-coaster 2 weeks starting with wins vs. Tennessee St. 89-54 (11/21), Ball St. 64-46 (11/24), and ending with an upset victory over then #1 ranked Florida Gators 82-80 (11/25) made Kansas look like the predicted National Champion they were chosen to be. The Jayhawks destroyed Dartmouth 83-32 before taking a trip to the "Windy City" to meet DePaul. The roller-coaster that was rolling high would soon drop to a new low as the Blue Demons shocked Kansas and won 64-57 (12/02). KU rebounded from the DePaul defeat and over powered the USC Trojans 72-62 (12/04). The lost by the Jayhawks to DePaul dropped them from a possible Top 5 ranking to #13. KU has 5 straight upcoming home games.

12/09 Toledo
12/19 Winston-Salem
12/23 Boston College
12/28 Detroit
12/30 Rhode Island

Duke 7-1 ranked #9 by the ESPN/ USA Today and #7 by the AP polls, the Blue Devils are flying under the radar but find themselves in the Top 10. Duke ended their 4-game winning streak to start the season with a shocking loss to # 17 ranked Marquette 73-62. The Devils are now on a 3-game win streak beating Davidson 75-47 (11/25), Indiana (the 6th ranked program of All-Time) 54-51 (11-28), and avenging a loss from last season to then #23 ranked Georgetown this past Saturday (12/02) 61-52. Duke has 5 more games before the start of the new year.

12/06 Holy Cross
12/09 George Mason
12/19 Kent St.
12/21 @ #18 Gonzaga
12/31 San Jose St.

"The Phat 5" Stat of the Week:
The UCLA Bruins last week ranked #1 in the AP polls making it the 129th time they ranked #1. The college basketball record streak of 129 consecutive home wins is by Kentucky from 1943-55. Both are records held by "Phat 5" programs.

"The Phat 5" has an 19-year consecutive Final Four streak from 1988-2006. There has been at least one or more "Phat 5" program teams at the Final Four every year since 1988.

For more information on "The Phat 5" of College Basketball Report at 500 or the Final Four streak contact Derrick E. Vaughan of Dunkadelic Inc. 443-851-5244

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