I was bogged down today so I didn't get to fully preview the man-beast, monster-child that is Michael Beasley, but he doesn't need that much in the way of an explanation.

He's averaging 26.7 points and 15 boards a game, getting the most out of his 6' 9", 235-pound game.  He's got what the kids call "explosion", with some scouts comparing him to one Mr. Carmelo Anthony:

I've got to work tonight immediately after the game, but expect some commentary on your last chance to see the Irish play on a national stage against a legitimate non-conference opponent this season thanks to one of the most embarrassing November/December slates I've ever seen (much more on this over Christmas break when I've got nothing but time and venom to spew).

Go Irish, Beat Wildcats  

(And for serious, we're just the undercard for Mayo vs. Rose, so tune into Southern Cal/Memphis after our game is over.)

And since this is the Jimmy V Classic, I think you have to watch this. "I don't have any of those things going

"But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don't have one of those things going with the cue cards, so I'm going to speak longer than anybody else has spoken tonight. That's the way it goes. Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left, and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I'll have something that will be important to other people too."

...

"But, I can't help it. Now, I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how's your day, and nothing is changed for me. As Dick said, I'm a very emotional, passionate man. I can't help it. That's being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love. And when people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it's the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."

...

"I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I'm gonna say it again: Cancer can take away all my physical ability. It cannot touch my mind; it cannot touch my heart; and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever."

Update [2007-12-4 20:9:20 by CW]: At halftime, the Irish lead by two thanks to the efforts of Luke Harangody, who's matching the efforts of Beasley with a wide variety of post moves. The gap was a lot larger when everyone on the team was rebounding at both ends of the floor, but the Irish got careless with the ball and the Wildcats knocked down some three's and we're in a ball game. If we could get rid of Dickie V and his insane "Vitale Rules" for the NBA draft and belief that some "coaches just fit places" (You think Coach K fits at Duke because he's been there forever and you're used to him; it's different) we'd have a great night of basketball.