New Orleans Hornets To Change Nickname To ... The Pelicans

The New Orleans Hornets could be the Pelicans as soon as 2013-14. (sportscity.com)

The New Orleans Hornets came under new ownership in April - New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson - and since then, there has been a possibility of the team changing its nickname.

According to a Yahoo! Sports report, the Hornets name could be replaced on the jerseys and logo as early as the 2013-14 season. The replacement nickname? The New Orleans Pelicans. This beat out the other possible nickname finalists the Brass and the Krewe (costumed parade members during Mardi Gras). Remember, New Orleans' NBA team was the Jazz before the team moved to Utah.

The Pelican doesn't seem overly intimidating, especially compared to a Hornet, unless you remember it was a Pelican that stole the board in the hit movie "Jumanji." You're welcome for that reference.

It makes sense for a New Orleans basketball team to have that nickname. It is the state bird, and Louisiana is the Pelican State. Also, the Pelican is equivalent to a 6-foot human in size, with a huge, 10-foot wingspan, and can fly, so the basketball metaphor is there.

The success of this new nickname will depend on the logo and how it is marketed, and it will be accepted with time. But whatever the organization decides to do, let's just hope the Pelican is wearing 70s-style Chuck Taylors and a headband or some other partially wacky design.


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Upsets Underscore the First Month of College Hoops

Baylor couldn't hang onto a lead against College of Charleston. (USAToday.com)

First Colorado handed Baylor a loss, then the College of Charleston did it. Of course, the Bears followed up the Charleston loss by coming one point short of beating Kentucky by double-digits. Out west, UCLA has fallen to Georgetown and Cal Poly. Oklahoma State even walloped North Carolina State, 76-56.

Just like that, four of the most hyped teams in the country have dropped from the Top 25 entirely. The Wildcats' tumble comes after sitting at No. 3 in the preseason polls, and falling from No. 8 to holding the almost-doesn't-count designation of top vote-getter outside of the rankings. UK's most recent vanquishers, Baylor, are now seventh in the waiting line for a national ranking after coming into the season at No. 19, but neither of those teams have fallen the farthest.

N.C. State was originally given the No. 6 spot thanks to the Wolfpack's forceful conference play and a strong showing in the NCAA tournament. Many people wondered whether this might be an optimistic projection by voters longing to introduce a new contender into the Duke-North Carolina scrum that is the perennial pinnacle of ACC action.

Ben Howland's Bruins planned on having a resurgent year, but ran into eligibility trouble before the season even began. Several players have departed before even getting into conference competition, with center Josh Smith being the most recent expatriate. A loss at the hands of San Diego State is completely understandable — the Aztecs are currently ranked No. 23 —but the Hoyas are supposed to be having a down year (although they have taken top-rated Indiana to overtime on a neutral court and eeked out a one-point victory over Tennessee in a 37-36 snoozefest) and Cal Poly is not a traditional national contender.

Questions arose last year over Howland's leadership at UCLA, so perhaps a No. 13 preseason ranking was a tad lofty. John Calipari's newest freshman-heavy squad could have been given too much credit, too. After losing Alec Burks to the NBA then faltering in their inaugural Pac-12 campaign, the Buffaloes were bound to pick up their play and would have to find a big win somewhere — they just happened to play Baylor before encountering an also-falling Murray State team.

As for the Charleston loss? The Bears gained an experience that many teams don't get until single-elimination play in March. Any group of players can beat their opponents on the hardwood on any particular day of the week.

What's the next upset special? Tell us in the comments.


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Will Calipari's System Be Questioned Again After Kentucky's Slow Start?

Is Kentucky's rough start leading to questions about John Calipari's freshman strategy? (yahoo.com)

The system of coaching in college basketball changed after John Calipari and Kentucky won a national title last season. Or at least that's what we thought.

The idea of senior leadership and building players has been exchanged in Lexington for the year's best recruits (and maybe a few old sophomores and juniors). And before last season, the formula had proven to produce positive results, but never the ultimate result, which made it easier for people to dismiss Cal's methods.

Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and the rest of the young Wildcats proved what raw ability can do with a season of preparation. Naturally, the same was expected of this year's group. UK has highly touted freshmen in Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley-Stein, who have even higher expectations and more pressure on them than last year's squad.

Kentucky just lost its second game in a row and third of the season, which is more losses than the 2011-12 team had all season and keeping them barely above .500 at 4-3. The 2011-12 team's first loss was on Dec. 10 to Indiana and then it didn't lose again until the SEC Tournament Championship game against Vanderbilt.

Freshmen are supposed to go through growing pains, and that's exactly what is happening to UK this year. The talent is there, but adjusting to the pace of the college game and facing hostile environments, not to mention building team chemistry, takes time.

This season's start is making last year look more and more like a once-in-a-decade group, rather than the new norm in the college game. Who else has found a team, led by freshmen, that only lost one game in the regular season (on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer in a loud Assembly Hall), go perfect in conference play and win a national title, all while looking like it was the best team in the country? If there were growing pains, they didn't show up in the final score. The starters rarely looked like the stage was too big for them and the chemistry was as good as it could be for players working together for the first year.

It was just assumed that since Cal pulled this feat off last year, of course he could do it again this year. That's what the system entails; come in for one year, be one of the best teams in the country, compete for a title and then go make money in the NBA. The most difficult part is the recruiting, and Cal has succeeded with flying colors.

But now we're seeing why coaches and analysts preach senior leadership and chemistry. Trust me, any coach would take the most talented freshmen if he could get them, and Cal shouldn't be faulted for that. There just also happens to be a down side to the approach, and we're witnessing it as Kentucky will most likely drop out of the top 25 this week.

This doesn't mean Kentucky is going to flop or remain in neutral all season. They'll be a dangerous team to face in the NCAA Tournament because a lot can be learned in four months. This is more about how special last year's team was, and that Cal hasn't discovered a fool-proof secret to the game, he has just crafted another way compete.

Other teams still have a fighting chance and the college basketball apocalypse can be put on hold until the next super-frosh team makes all of us rethink our team's strategy.


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Latest Conference Realignment: Two Points We've Learned And When It Will Stop

You won't see this image much longer, as Louisville is off to the ACC. (sbnation.com)

It all seemed so clear three years ago.

The Big East was the powerhouse of college basketball conferences, with the ACC and Big 12 not far behind. Now the thought of who will be a member of the Big East in two years seems like a question fitting for Jeopardy! or a Magic 8-Ball.

As of this post's publishing, Louisville was the latest large athletic department to jump ship and head to the ACC. (I said "at the post's publishing" because it seems like a move happens every 12 minutes; I said "large athletic department" because Tulane's not shaking up people's lives like Syracuse; and I said "athletic department" because we all know this isn't about academics. It's about money generating from football and basketball.)

Fans want to know when it will stop, and most likely, the answer isn't any time soon, and not until one of the six major conferences no longer exists. The Big East is trying to stay above water after losing West Virginia and the eventual loss of Syracuse, Pitt and Louisville, but its emergency plan has turned it into Conference USA 2.0.

Instead of predicting the future, which is nearly impossible when involving conference realignment, let's talk about two points that we do know.

1.  ACC basketball is the new Big East
Think about where the Big East was a couple of years ago. The eighth and ninth best teams in the conference could still get into the NCAA Tournament (or win the National Title, if you're Big East Tournament ninth-seeded UCONN circa 2011) and the Big East Tournament was amazing to watch because great teams like Georgetown and Notre Dame could square off in a quarter-final game.

The ACC isn't quite as stacked from top to bottom, but this is not a league that will have a clear favorite every year. It already had arguably the greatest rivalry in the game with Duke and North Carolina, and now throws in Syracuse, Louisville and Pitt, who have all been near the top in the country in the past five years. Maybe even more impressive is the list of coaches now in the conference. Krzyzewski, Boeheim, Williams and Pitino all coaching against each other? If you're looking for a better group of Hall of Fame coaches, good luck finding it.

2. The old conference lineups are not coming back
We all get nostalgic thinking about the conference and the teams in it we grew up watching. While I wish the Big East wasn't crumbling and the Big 12 could have remained with 12 schools like it was when I was a kid, it will never be the same again. But 10 years after all this settles down, what we now view as new and weird will seem familiar. Until then, try not to get too attached. It really doesn't feel like many teams are safe from a move, and we've definitely learned that geography doesn't matter anymore (San Diego State in the Big East?). It doesn't seem right for Maryland to be in the Big Ten or Pitt to be in the ACC, but new opportunities and benefits will arise and new rivalries will form.

To expect the unexpected is the easiest mindset to be in as we wait and see what else shakes up, and until then, enjoy the conference your favorite team is in and try to find a silver lining in a possible move.


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BYU Fans Make Viral Video To Bring Jabari Parker To Provo

No. 2-ranked high school recruit Jabari Parker cut his list of possible college choices to five in October. BYU did not make the cut. But that didn't stop some passionate fans to create a video playing off of Psy's "Gangnam Style" called "Parker Style" with the hopes of luring the highly touted recruit to Provo.

The video is pretty good (for a parody song video about a high school athlete) and isn't as cheesy as some we've seen in the past, so the guys deserve credit there.

The biggest question I had was why the main singer wore a BYU football jersey for a video that is recruiting a basketball player. Do they not sell BYU basketball jerseys in Provo?

Parker will probably not wind up in Provo, but at least these fans did their part in the recruiting process.


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Sasha McHale -- Daughter of Rockets Coach Kevin McHale -- Passes Away at 23

Kevin McHale has taken a leave of absence after his daughter Sasha passed away Saturday. (nydailynews.com)

The NBA season tipped off on Nov. 1. Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale officially took leave from his position on Nov. 10. His daughter, Alexandra "Sasha" McHale, passed away exactly two weeks later. She was 23 years old.

Between releases from owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets -- Kevin McHale has coached and filled other positions for both franchises -- no official cause of death has been announced by any source. The Houston Chronicle's Rockets beat writer, Jonathan Feigen, reports that Sasha McHale was originally hospitalized with complications stemming from a long-running battle with lupus, an autoimmune disorder.

Current Rockets James Harden and Chandler Parsons both tweeted their regards ("Praying for coach McHale and his family." and "R.I.P. Sasha," respectively) for their coach's loss.

No timetable is set for McHale's return to the bench, and none likely will be until he feels it is the right decision for himself and his family.

I can't pretend to know the feeling of losing a child and will not do it here. This is not a forum for feigning or for preaching. But do take a moment to think about the family of Sasha McHale, a young woman who, by all accounts, was exuberant.

The BDD staff sends condolences to the McHale family in this time of grief.

Jack Taylor's 138-point Feat - Grinnell's System Deserves The Credit

Grinnell College's Jack Taylor set an amazing scoring record last week, which he can credit to the program's system. (usatoday.com)

Grinnell College's Jack Taylor was one of the biggest stories last week in an already big sports week. That's what happens when you score 138 points in a basketball game.

I've waited until nearly a week later to write this not because I am lazy or slow to the party, but because I wanted to wait and see what he did next and research what he had done before that breakout game that got him headlines all over the country.

First off, the feat is impressive, regardless of your stance. Sure he had to take 108 shots in order to reach that number, but it's impressive his arm didn't fall off or, in seriousness, that he didn't strain a muscle shooting that much.

Taylor got his 15 minutes of fame, but let's not believe we've found the next pure shooter who will make the large leap to the NBA. He had a night where half of his shots were going in, and he just happened to play for a system that allowed him an unprecedented amount of chances to shoot.

Grinnell's game plan is to score, and to score a lot. That's how it is averaging 134 points per game in its first four games of the season. The plan is to shoot early on in the possession, and to shoot often. The Pioneers defense is to score more on offense.

Taylor just happened to be the beneficiary of the extreme success the system can provide. Just look at how he followed up the record-breaking performance in a game against William Penn on Sunday. Taylor had 21 points on 6-21 shooting (28 percent) and was 3-13 (23 percent) from 3-point range.

So there was a bit of pressure on him to follow up on a great performance. That's understandable. But the story was the same in the first game of the season, where Taylor scored 19 points on 5-18 shooting from the field (27 percent) and 3-15 from behind the arc (a mere 20 percent). The next day, he had a better 28 points on 6-23 shooting (still a very average 26 percent) and 3-19 from 3 (15.7 percent).

Take away the game of his career and he has shot 27 percent from the field this season and 19 percent from 3-point range. Those aren't great numbers from a "shooting" guard.

This is not meant to bash on Taylor. He accomplished a feat no one else has done, and should be congratulated for it. But he should also be congratulating a system that allows him to score by taking 20 or 108 shots a game and to keep shooting 3's when none are falling. Not many other programs give players that freedom.

Only at Grinnell could Jack Taylor score 138 points in a game.


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