Country? Honky Tonk? Ameripolitan? Great Music; Dale Watson @ Rose Park Columbia MO 5/16 Concert Review

I've definitely gravitated away from music in general over the past few years. And live shows are no exception. I've seen most acts I've wanted to and many legends have left us. There are a few like, Neil Young, Shooter Jennings, that I'll always turn up for. But lately, it's gotta be somebody different or somebody that breaks from the mold.

My dad has always talked about wanting to see Dale Watson and there was an announcement for a CoMo concert at Rose Music Hall, and not at the crowded Roots 'N Blues Festival, it was a must. Alas my dad was in the fields, but I had my brother lined up to go in his place. And it wasn't like we wouldn't have been able to get tickets when we got there. With nice hot weather, they moved the show outdoors to Rose Park next door and also gives them the ability to see more tickets.

We got there with time to spare and finding a parking space easily. We noticed most brought their lawn chairs, and sat behind a dirt area in front of the stage. Me and my brother sit for a while and moved back behind the people in their lawn chairs, not sure of the protocol and not wanting to be the only ones standing around looking like dorks up front.

A little after 7:30 Dale Watson and his Lone Stars hit the stage. No dreaded opening act!  About a third of the way through the show, I made my way up front after a some people had filtered down front and my brother joined me bit later, after a beer run.

I'm not super familiar with many of Watson's songs and I didn't brush up like I should have before, but I love the sound, attitude and spirit Watson brings to his music. And it carries to his shows. He doesn't make a set list out beforehand, or so he says, and kind of wings it to audience or what they shout out. (I told my dad later, he should have went and he could have gotten the songs he wanted to hear)

Not being familiar and no comparable set lists, I can only piece together some songs he played. He played around 25-26, including a four song encore, over and an hour and 45 minutes,while also throwing in several hilarious jingles/ads for Lonestar Beer. There was a nice mix of his more well-known songs, covers and everything. He also brought his girlfriend, Celine Lee, to duet on several songs, which gave a nice change of pace and added something different.

The only minor complaint was while the three piece band and Watson were tight and knew their stuff, with the same format; electric guitar, stand-up bass, pedal steel and drums, throughout there was sort of sameness feeling. But even then Watson, runs the gamut, from country, honky-tonk, western swing, truly his vision of Ameripolitan music.

And the crowd was very low-key. Maybe being outside, slightly older and having enough room made for the experience. And not having douchey college kids or "cool country" kids there was a plus.

After the show was over, Watson positioned himself at the exit, and took selfies, and shook hands. The most hilarious thing, was Watson himself figuring out how to work a man's camera to take a picture, after the owner was having trouble doing so. I shook his hand and thanked him for a great show. I would have stuck around for an autograph, but they took our tickets when we entered.

Dale Watson is a definitely an act you should see if you like country music. Well real music that is, not the fluffy pop stuff of Maren Morris and bro-country. Definitely an artist I'd have no problem seeing again.

Songs Played (That I Can Remember) In Random Order

Call Me Lucky
Tupelo, Mississippi & a '57 Ford Fairlane
I Lie When I Drink
A Real Country Song
Blessed or Damned
Flowers In Your Hair
The Dumb Song
David Buxkemper
Mama's Smile
That's How I'd Miss You
Truck Stop in La Grange
South of Round Rock, Texas
Give Me More Kisses
Jonesin' For Jones
I Hate These Songs
Mama's Don't Let Your Cowboys Grow Up to Be Babies
Exit 109
38-21-34 ? 
Johnny & June
Long Legged Guitar Picking Man
Jackson
You're the Reason Our Kids are Ugly
Silver Wings
Bubbles in My Beer

Now That's Country! And Rock and Roll! And Bluegrass! Marty Stuart @The Blue Note 1/25 Concert Review

My brother messaged me a few weeks ago, wanting to know if I'd go see Marty Stuart at the Blue Note on January 25th. I'd previously seen him and the Fabulous Superlatives, six years ago opening for Merle Haggard. And it was a slow time at work, I didn't think I'd have to waste a vacation day(I wound up having to) and he said he was buying. So I was in. My mom and dad wanted to go, so he sprung for everyone's.

We arrived to wait in line about 30 minutes before doors opening and got to bare the cold wind. Thankfully the average age of people waiting in line before us was up there, which meant me and my brother didn't really have to worry about rushing towards the front, as like my parents they had seats. We wound up against the rail.

The show started at 8:30, with local act the Brad Cunningham Band, which actually consisted of him and a guitar player. He played ten songs around 40 minutes, with an obligatory rock and roll cover, which was You Don't Mess Around With Jim. He was alright. He had a decent humorous song, Willie for President, kinda derivative of Eric Church. Another decent one he played, Long Way Home, Country 96 plays as part of their red dirt showcases according to my brother.

After a quick 30 minute set change, Marty and the Superlatives hit the stage, with a pretty packed building, with the first of a couple instrumental jams spread out through the evening, before still rocking away into a solid salvo of Tear the Woodpile Down, and early hits ("My radio songs...When I still had black hair!"), The Whiskey Ain't Working and Tempted.

From there it was a blend of rock, country, gospel, bluegrass, rockabilly, blues, surf music, covers and great musicianship for ninety minutes. Each of the Superlatives were given a couple of numbers, to showcase their singing. And each one brought something unique. Guitarist "Cousin" Kenny Vaughan's Country Music Got a Hold of Me was a definite highlight, along with his masterful guitar playing. But so was "Handsome" Harry Stinson's singing. Throw in country music legacy in Chris Scruggs, covering Johnny Horton too. Overall one of the tightest and most talented groups I've seen.

Throughout the night Marty commented on his heroes and his past, mentioning he played Columbia other times, when he was Lester Flatt and when he was with Johnny Cash ("He was my father-in-law for about 15 minutes."). He's played the Roots 'N Blues Fest several times in the last few years, so I would venture to guess it's part of his standard stage banter. It was evidenced by his many cover songs. The greatest country music riff with Mama Tried's opening, you can never go wrong with.
But he is a true professional that seems to enjoy playing live. The biggest thing I marveled at, was how when jumping and dancing around, the fact that he doesn't trip in guitar wires behind him. I also love the fact that the instrument switching was pretty organized and kept to minimum. Basically if they did switch, it was for a group of songs. The late Tom Petty was horrible about the guitar dance.

After he "left" the stage before the encore, he pointed to my brother, because I think he noticed his signing along the words to Rock Island Line and my brother pointed back. The last song of the encore was a gospel number ("If there's any group that needs one, it's this group! which erupted cheers) again showcasing harmony vocal talents.

Overall a great time, with front row view of killer playing. It was definitely a little more on the rocking side. Even his newer songs I wasn't familiar with, were very catchy and made you want to bop around. My dad noted on the ride home, another older guy sitting beside him, expected more "country" style than the rocking honky tonk.

Again with the variety of styles, it's pure Americana. It's no wonder he was brought, along with his B-Bender that once belonged to Clarence White, on the Sweetheart of the Rodeo 50th Anniversary Tour.

Set List

1. Graveyard (Instrumental)
2. Tear the Woodpile Down
3. The Whiskey Ain't Working
4. Tempted
5. You Don't Miss Your Water
6. Mama Tried
7. Mojave
8. Old Mexico
9. Old Old House
10. Country Music Got a Hold of Me (Kenny Vaughan)
11. Hot Like That (Kenny Vaughan)
12. Walls of a Prison
13. Rock Island Line
14. Got the Bull by the Horn (Chris Scruggs)
15. ? (Chris Scruggs song?)
16. Pretty Boy Floyd (Harry Stinson)
17. Slow Train (Harry Stinson)
18. Orange Blossom Special
19. Country Boy Rock and Roll
20. Time Don't Wait

---------
21. Air Mail Special
22. Hillbilly Rock
23. Angels Rock Me To Sleep

NEIL! ;Neil Young at the Fabulous Fox 6/28 Concert Review

It had been since 2009, since Neil Young has played Missouri. I'd seen his previous two stops in the state(not counting two Farm Aid appearances in St. Louis in 2009 and KC, Kansas 2011) and will probably see him anytime he comes my way. When this small run of solo dates were announced St. Louis got a date, based on it being a part of Neil's favorite venues in favorite cities. And I scooped up the best tickets I could, as early as I could.

I would up with seats about 15 rows back on the right side and surviving the the nasty rain and road construction on Grand Avenue, me and my dad got there in plenty of time. At 8 PM sharp, the lights dimmed and...we got an opening act. John Hammond, a white blues man, I'd never heard of and never saw anywhere Neil having an opening act. Yea. He was a good player, playing acoustic, harp and a resonator, but I'm not a blues guy, so it sounded monotonous. His part lasted around 30 minutes with eight songs. The gap between his set and Neil's was longer than his set.

The one thing to expect with Neil, is for him to not do what you're expecting of him. Just because it's solo, doesn't mean he's just acoustic. A few years back he made up shirts that read, "I said 'solo.' They said, 'Acoustic.' However, he came out strong in that format with older songs, after a standing ovation before he played a note.

He switched to banjo after four songs, before strapping on his White Falcon, for a stunning Ohio, the highlight of the night. He prefaced it with a segue about playing love songs like that, into a story behind creating Ohio and writing songs that made him an angry. He used that format several other times, leading into more political songs later in the set. Neil never got outright political, but danced around the edges. "...Now you can just make up shit... I don't know.."

Throughout the night, Neil was more festive and talkative than in the previous two shows. He talked multiple times about his guitars and pianos, where he got them and what how they were part of the creative process.  And he was very witty and self-deprecating. He even joked that, "Most of the time I don't talk as much, and still don't know what I'm doing. I'm just being honest up here." Part of the madness was him trying to figure out what he was going to do next, as well as issues with harmonicas, needing a different one, putting it in water, etc. Knowing Neil doesn't like fakeness, but a lot seems like it might be part of show and dragging it out.  Neil's set-up was adorned by three different pianos, as well as his pump organ, which never got used, which I would say gives a lot of credence to Neil playing it real.

And give me the awkwardness and unique. If there's one thing I despise, is the same "show" different city approach, where even the banter with the audience is the same every city between songs. Everyone likes great sound that is polished, but it lacks that surprise element.

Of course he didn't play all of his hits, though he ended his main set, with The Needle and the Damage Done and Heart of Gold, with five out of the ten songs off of Harvest getting played. And ten of the 18 songs, I hadn't seen him do live.

Which brings me to the worst part of the show. The biggest criticism I have, is that he only played for a little over 90 minutes. Going by older solo shows, he's varied it from 90 minutes to over two hours, so it's in the realm of being a normal show. But for a $165 a ticket, I'd like at least two hours.

And some comments I read on Thrasher's Wheat, laid some possible blame onto obnoxious fans, shouting out crap all night. To be fair they did it the first time I saw him at the Fox in 2007 and the same with Jackson Browne in 2010 there. But they didn't start it until towards the end of the show.( A notable exception was during After The Gold Rush in 2007, where Neil lost his place and had to redo a verse) There were d-bags doing this from the start last night though. I think it's just part of the singer-songwriter concert experience. Especially ones who don't play straight up hits. But maybe it did fluster and annoy Neil. At point he told us, "All that doesn't register up here," though once when someone shouted out about Lincvolt, it did put a smile on his face and led to a story about his electric classic car project. Other cities set lists will show... I

Overall a really good performance, though I think the KC show ranks better at the moment, due to length. And of course there is a still a bucket-list of songs, I'd still love to see him do...

Set List

On The Way Home
Homefires
Love Is A Rose
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Mellow My Mind
Ohio
There's A World
Love In Mind
Are You Ready For The Country?
Tonight's The Night
Speakin' Out
Angry World
Love And War
Peaceful Valley Boulevard
Out On The Weekend
The Needle And The Damage Done
Heart Of Gold
-------
Tumbleweed

	Post Dispatch's Review here

The Well Worn Honky Tonk Highway; Alan Jackson 9/8 St. Charles Family Arena Concert Review

Alan Jackson has always been one of my mom's favorites, the neo-traditionalist with fiddle and steel guitar (And come on, only the most anti-country city slickers could dislike his music). When the announcement popped up that he'd be playing in St. Charles, near my mom's birthday, it sounded like a good idea to see this living legend of country music (And I mean country music, not Jason AlBryan Georgia Line crap).

We got decent seats on the right side of the stage 11 rows up, though blocked by some speaker cables. There was a surprise opener 20 minutes before showtime, Adam Wright, a singer-songwriter who played solo with an electric guitar for four songs. It wasn't nothing much, and later I found out he's Jackson's nephew.

At 7:30 sharp, Lee Ann Womack and band took the stage for an 11 song 50 minute set that was superb. This is the third time I've seen her, all as an opening act for bigger stars. She ran through most of her well known songs, as well as some new material. She also played Lord I Hope This Day Is Good, as a tribute to Don Williams who passed away earlier. The set was over way too quick. Again she is superb as an opening act, well known with "songs you've heard of," as she said during the show and musicality thoroughly on the country side. I find it greatly ironic that someone who came to fame as a crossover star in Shania's wake, is a standard bearer for what is real country music.

Set List 

Does My Ring Burn Your Finger
Never Again, Again
A Little Past Little Rock
I'll Think of A Reason Later
All The Trouble
Long Black Veil
Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good
I May Hate Myself in The Morning
The Way I'm Livin ????

I Hope You Dance
Ashes By Now













The set change took about 25 minutes and Mr. Jackson hit the stage at quarter til nine, with an introductory video and Gone Country, or at least a snippet of it, with him just singing the chorus. The first thing I noticed and my mom mentioned after the concert, it looked like he had trouble moving, whether it's drink, old-age, bad leg, too tight jeans and boots or some combination. In fact he'd take rests on a stool, between songs as a different member of his eight-piece band was allowed an intro-jamming at least once. But he seemed to get more lively as the evening got going, telling the audience, "..stand up and dance, sit and enjoy the music, we're pretty laid back up here," as well as pointing out some of the handmade signs the audience were holding up.

Jackson like his neo-traditionalist friend and ally George Strait, is a living legend that has enough number ones to make a concert just on those alone. He pretty much played the more well known ones and I was pressed to think of ones that I was disappointed he didn't play. His cover of It Must Be Love, was the closest especially for a Don Williams tribute, as one he didn't play . Jackson was a master showman, working the crowd signing autographs, throwing t-shirts to the crowd and name-dropping Missouri with lyric changes multiple times in songs. This is a contrast to Strait, who is more old school without the showmanship and I've heard compared to being more like a jukebox in concert. Not to mention the aforementioned Strayhorns band of Jackson, getting time to shine and vamp on solos.

The song that stuck out best was As She's Walking Away, with Jackson giving Zac Brown's part to one of his sidemen(complete with making him wear the stocking beanie). There was nothing really special about it, but it kept it with the theme of the song, without having to resort of video screens and let Jackson play the wise barroom sage...

Overall it was a good concert, but nothing spectacular. Again, someone with so many hits, it makes highs and lows of a show scarce. The biggest disappointment for me was the length. The show was roughly only 90 minutes long. Even though with a great opening act, I got my money's worth, for the ticket  price and $10 gouging for having to pay for parking, it should have been a little longer and closer to two hours. The other mild disappointment for me could have remedied both, was the truncated versions of  Gone Country (chorus only), Here in the Real World and Chasing That Neon Rainbow (first verse and chorus on each). Those are three of his best and a couple I like better, so I enjoyed getting just those, but the overall length of the concert made me wish for the complete songs...

As I said the man is a living legend and Country Music Hall-of Famer(or soon-to-be) and was glad to be able to see him in concert as well as take my mom to see another of her favorites.

Set List

Gone Country (Snippet)
I Don't Even Know Your Name
Livin' on Love
The Blues Man
Who's Cheating Who
Here In The Real World > Chasing That Neon Rainbow>As She's Walking Away
Little Bitty
Drive 
Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning
Don't Rock the Jukebox
Remember When
Good Time
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
Chattahoochee 
Where I Come From
-----------
Mercury Blues


St. Louis Post Dispatch Review Here

The Gunslinger; Shooter Jennings 5/27 at The Blue Note Concert Review

It had been eight years since I last saw Shooter Jennings in concert. Far too long. I was planning on seeing him the last time he played the Blue Note, in Columbia in 2013, but my dad bought tickets for another concert the same night. So, I wound up seeing the Sail Rock tour instead. Hell, 2013 was the last time I went to the Blue Note too, when I saw Billy Joe Shaver...

And waking up with little good sleep and a continuing sinus headache, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it tonight. But good old Claritan cleared it up and, after the storms dissipated,  I was on my way. I got there about 40 minutes til doors opened with a small line. Past history says to get there early enough to avoid being snaked through the alleyway. But it wound up being maybe half full at most tonight, probably due in part to the holiday weekend and that the students are gone for summer, which is a good thing.

Once inside, it was a 50 minute wait until the first openers, the Tanner Lee Band hit the stage at 8:30. They were a traditional four piece that played eight songs in little over half an hour. They were okay, but suffered from the muddied sound opening act syndrome. I would kind of describe them as somewhere between Southern and Country Rock.

Then a quick set change, led to Mountain Sprout taking the stage, playing nine songs at around 45 minutes. They're a Hellbelly Bluegrass bearded quartet from Arkansas and as their leader said in his quick talking Southern accent, "We sing about sex and drugs." Which is pretty much right on. And their songs were quite good as well as hilarious. Their opening song Dry Counties, set the tone, as well as Money, Pussy and Drugs and Screw the Government. Their songs are refreshing tongue-in-cheek honesty...


The final set change took a bit longer and Shooter, clad in his purple Nudie-like suit, and his four piece band came out a little after 10:30, opening with Electric Rodeo. His four piece "LA Band," featured Aubrey Richmond on violin, which added a unique texture to Shooter's sound, along with the typical guitar, drums and bass. I've always loved the countryfied live version of 4th of July over the more rocking take on the studio album and the fiddle here took the place of the steel guitar and sounded beautiful. But it was one of many beautiful solos and fills throughout the show.

The more hard rocking songs started out the show, before Shooter favored the acoustic guitar for the majority of later songs. Maybe the best song was Outlaw You, which brought an intensity that helped feed the audience, as well as the aforementioned fiddle work. Another highlight was Nashville from Afar and the intended George Jones song (Or so Shooter thought as he related the story.), Living in A Minor Key. There definitely was a slant towards his Black Ribbons and onward material, as he only played five songs from his first three albums. (I'm kicking myself for not seeing him at the Blue Note in 2007 or the next year at the Montgomery County Fair, when the The Wolf was released, which has become my favorite album of his and missed seeing him preform most of those songs live...)

A guy nabbed one of the set lists and let me take a pic.

Shooter played around 90 minutes, closing with the cover Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues and no encore, or the fake encore as I call it. This was the first show, I've seen him, where he didn't play a Waylon cover. (Though Waylon did cover Good Time Charlie, I'm not sure his version is the most famous). The only bad parts was I wish Shooter played longer, and the tall guys that moved their way to the front right before Shooter started. Though by halfway through, they had moved again or left.

This was fourth time seeing Shooter, overall it was a kick ass show, well well worth more than the $20 ticket and convenience charges. I'm sure some of it was not having seen Shooter for so long. But I love Shooter's blending of music, from Country, various forms and eras of Rock, to things I'm not big on like Electronica.

Set List (In case image gets deleted )

Electric Rodeo
Steady at the Wheel
Don't Feed the Animals
Triskaidekaphobia
The Real Me
Outlaw You
The Last Time I Let You Down
Nashville From Afar
Wild and Lonesome
I'm Left You're Right, She's Gone
Living in a Minor Key
The Door(A George Jones Cover) 
The Other Life
Manifesto No.1
All of This Could Have Been Yours
Summer of Rage
The Gunslinger 
4th of July
Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues

The Low and High Times of Missouri Basketball

The last time I wrote about Missouri Tigers basketball, was twice in a couple weeks span in 2014, with an end of season review and then with the news of the Kim Anderson era happening after Frank Haith's escaping the posse out of town. Then between starting college classes and not having the free days off  I used to have from work, my overall blogging slipped and well, Missouri basketball under Kim Anderson didn't exact inspire much to write about....The last three seasons of Missouri basketball produced less than 30 wins combined. As many point out, Frank Haith won that many in his first year at Missouri...

Then the official word, what many of us fans expected sooner, happened after the final regular season game of the season, was that Kim Anderson wasn't coming back for next season. I had decent hopes for Kim Anderson at Mizzou, but he was in over his head, inheriting not the best of situations; a young inexperienced team, as well as a horrendous APR score and the beginnings of an NCAA investigation, that Anderson didn't even get told about until the took the job.

But it wasn't as horrible a situation as his defenders made it out to be. He had quite a bit of talent on his first roster with Jonathan Williams III(who's now starting for the possible NCAA Champion Gonzaga Bulldogs) and several other four stars, recruiting and rerecruiting  some back on board. The biggest knock on Anderson was that people didn't think he'd be able to recruit at a Division I Power 5 conference level, but he'd be good with the x's and o's and developing his players.

Except it turned out to be more the opposite. His first season he had a talented young roster, that seemed on the cusp of getting over their humps, but an injury to their best scorer, Montaque Gill-Caesar , derailed what progress was being made on a team that struggled to make 60 points. And then the transfers started, with multiple players leaving on a yearly basis. This wasn't what people meant by bringing back the years of Norm, specifically the mid-90s version of Norm.

And there seemed to be no progress among players, no continuity, no development and no sense that things were going to get better. Many felt he was lucky to get a third year. His tenure started with an embarrassing home loss to UMKC and this season featured three more home losses to low majors at home that probably sealed his fate for good.

As the lows started to wear off, with the excitement of a coaching search(which happens too frequently with MU for my tastes), things seemed to be on the right track. Early signs seemed to be that Tom Crean, who was running out of favor, with a cutthroat fan base at Indiana that's stuck in the 1980s, was the man for the job. I was totally on board for this. He's a great coach that's proven he can build up a major conference team, take a team to the Final Four and bring in major talent. Hell, he's recruited Missouri better than Missouri has.

Alas the behind the scenes wrangling didn't pan out and it was soon announced that Cuonzo Martin was offered the job and sources early on indicated he was going to take it. I'd rather have still had Tom Crean, but Martin has shown he can recruit high level talent and build decent teams, where down years are NIT years. The biggest concern is whether he can get over the hump of hovering around 20 wins and not be perceived as a job jumper. I really think he'd still be at Tennessee if not for sort of being Frank Haithed out of town. We want a guy that wants to be here for the long haul and at least in the press conference that's what Martin alluded to too. 

Of course that same day or the day after, it was announced that Washington was parting ways with Lorenzo Romar, for six straight years of missing the NCAA Tournament, while having stellar talent and recruiting classes. And he happened to have the number one recruit by many services coming in, whose father happened to be an assistant coach for Romar. When that axe fell, Michael Porter Sr. started making plans and rumors of a job offer to be an assistant at Missouri, where he previously coached on the women's team(His sister-in-law is the coach) started swirling.

When that became official, it was pretty clear that Michael Porter Jr. was coming to the Tigers. The number one player in the country was coming back home and going to play for Ol' Mizzou. For a MU fan, the 180° turnaround in a matter of weeks has been something out of our wildest dreams. Good things don't happent ot Missouri.  Martin has gotten interest drummed up, all while he's still not even done recruiting  and not even coached a game for us yet!

All I know, is that I'm ready for next fall.

A 2016 Collegiate Men's Olympic Basketball Team

Has it really been four years, since I first did this during the 2012 Olympics? Why, yes it has. I did manage to go back and fill in all of the other years Olympics team with college stars and wanted to for the World Championship teams as well, but life and wasting time have taken hold.

So, while I intended to get to this a while back, I figured I'd better get to it now. And I'll continue the trend of picking the guys that were in college last year, even if they've signed pro contracts and played in the Summer League or whatever it's called.
My coach this time out, is the great(I have to grudgingly admit this as a MU fan. Oh what could have been in 1999...) Bill Self, the head coach of Kansas.

Starters

• PF/C Brice Johnson (North Carolina)
• PF Perry Ellis (Kansas)
• SF/SG Denzel Valentine (Michigan State) 
• SG Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia)
• PG Tyler Ulis (Kentucky)

Bench

• C A.J. Hammons (Purdue)
• C Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona) 
• F Georges Niang (Iowa State)
• F Brandon Ingram (Duke)
• SG/SF Wayne Selden (Kansas)
• SG Grayson Allen (Duke) 
• PG Frank Mason III (Kansas) 

 Similar to what he did, by taking his whole KU team for the World University Games in 2015, I think Self takes at least three of his Jayhawks. Even though he likes to play with two point guards on the floor, I think he only chooses two true point guards, due to the amazing Denzel Valentine, as well as Grayson Allen who did a lot of the running the show for Duke in 2015-16.
Overall I think the team is pretty versatile. I probably picked one too many big guys, instead of another guard(Marcus Paige, Kris Dunn, Ron Baker, Fred Van Vleet), but having extra size and height is always a good thing. The forwards are the same way, being leaner and more athletic, which helps match the style du jour of the Golden State Warriors. Again, there were several that probably should be on this team (Nigel Hayes, Alex Poythress come to mind) from that spot. There were just a lot of of talented and upperclass players which made these choices hard.

 Now, maybe I'll get to filling in the teams for the World Championships....