Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow. What a game.
That could be a sufficient review but I'll give you a little more. We were from roughly two inches away from witnessing the greatest sports moment of our lives. After Butler continued to fight back and not let the game get away from them they found themselves down two with the ball off a rebound with 3.6 seconds left. Gordon Heyward grabbed the board, shot down the right sideline (and received a sick pick along the way, leveling Kyle Singler), and a millisecond before the clock expired launched a shot from a little over half-court. The ball ricocheted off the backboard, off the front rim, and then it hit the floor. That was the most exciting few seconds I can remember, and if it went through it would have been the most memorable sports moment I have ever seen.
Let's back up though for a second. How did Butler find themselves with the ball down only two points? Controversy, that's how. Butler was down five with two minutes left. They had not hit a field goal in seven minutes. Duke had the ball. It appeared all but over. But once again we underestimated the Bulldogs. They got a stop and managed to cut the lead to one. Now they have the ball with ten seconds left. Coach Stevens calls a timeout and they run an isolation play for Heyward. It looked like he was trying to draw and dish but he could not find an open man so he did a little step back J over Duke's seven footer Zoubek. In and out. Zoubek recovers and grabs the board and Butler smartly immediately fouls. Zoubek steps to the line and nails the first. Duke up two. Then, in a moment I still cannot get over, Zoubek intentionally misses the second free throw. He was hoping the ball would bounce around a little, a skirmish would ensue and the time would expire off the clock. But lets think about this. There was almost four seconds left on the clock - that is a ton of time in this situation. Second, and most important, Duke was ONLY UP TWO POINTS. If they were up three and said "lets gamble with the intentional miss and worst case is they tie it up and we go to overtime". If Butler hits that shot, if it's two more inches to the left, Duke LOSES THE GAME. I still cannot get over this decision by Coach K who is going to go down as one of the top two or three coaches of all time. This decision alone should bump him down the list a few spots. The move there is to hit the shot, take the point, enjoy your three point lead, put a defender on the inbound pass and make them pull a Christian Laettner on you (think that played in at all?).
Anyway, I really wish that came back to bite Duke, it would have been great. But as we have it Duke is our national champ so congrats to them. Huge shout out to Butler too, that was the most impressive tournament performance I have ever seen. They never got scared. They never backed down. Against teams like Syracuse and Kansas State they were the aggressor and dictated tempo and forced the big dogs to play their style of basketball.
Another shout out to Coach K - hate to do it but think about it. Thirty years coaching, eleven final fours, four championships. He is 11-1 in Elite 8 games. Nice work, Coach.
That wraps up the 2010 March Madness blog. I am glad I was able to document the greatest tournament I can ever remember. See you next year.
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Final Four Review
Another day of March (April), another day of Madness. A lot of times when you get to the final weekend of any sports season, the hype outweighs the actual games. Saturday's NCAA semifinals was not like that. There were major story lines heading in: Can the kids from Butler keep this Cinderella streak going? Can Tom Izzo keep his undermanned team chugging along? Would Duke's finesse or West Virginia's brute win out? Which of these looks nothing like the other: Coach K, Bob Huggins, Tom Izzo, Brad Stevens? So how did it play out? Let's get it.
First game featured #5 Michigan State vs #5 Butler, yet somehow this was billed as David vs. Goliath. Two teams with very similar styles, both play defense and rebound really well. As expected, the game was a tough, grind it out thriller. As not expected, Butler pulled off yet another victory over a school most thought they had no business being in the gym with. The Bulldogs' free throw shooting was really sketch down the stretch, I thought it was going to do them in but they managed to hold off the Spartans and advance to the National Championship game. That is right, Butler will be playing for all of the marbles. Interesting nugget here: Butler has held every opponent to under 60 points in the tournament. Impressive. Think about it.
Game two was the main event. CBS was so happy to have Duke on in prime time. How do I know this? Between Duke being given the biggest cakewalk of a bracket draw I can ever remember (Kansas was the #1 overall seed but had Ohio St and Georgetown in their bracket. Duke was the #3 overall seed and got Villanova and Baylor. Please.) and the refs handing them every possible call to date, especially in the Baylor game, you did not need to be a genius to see what was going on here. CBS and the NCAA needed Duke's brand name in the Final Four or else they would be hurting. Like I have said before, everyone loves a Cinderella story until they have to play in the next game.
Anyway, so here we are, 9pm on a Saturday night with #1 Duke vs. #2 West Virginia. The contrast between the two programs, the two coaches, the two schools is why I love sports. Coach K runs a tight, clean ship, appears to really care about his players graduating and going on to be "men" more than anything else. Huggins has the rep of not graduating his kids and doing anything possible to win basketball games. More on this later. The big X's and O's question in this one was how would Duke match up against WVU's vaunted 1-3-1 zone that has wreaked havoc on every opponent in their path in the tourney, especially Kentucky the week before who just could not solve it. Know what Duke did? They offensive rebounded like nothing I have ever seen, then kicked out to wide open jump shooters and just drilled three after three after three. Every possession was like Groundhog Day. WVU would play great defense, force Duke into a bad shot, and then let Duke beat them on the boards for a board-kick-three-swish. WVU still hung around though, they did their own thang on the offensive end to stay alive. There were a handful of moments in the 2nd half where all the Mountaineers needed was one stop and everything would have changed. They would usually force a miss, but then (guess what?), the Devils would get the board and capitalize. In the end, Duke was too much and won a game where WVU just said "Uncle" at the end.
With about four minutes left and WVU hanging on by a thread, their best player and team leader suffered a horrible knee injury. He was on the floor writhing in pain. Somehow, this produced one of the most heartfelt moments of the tourney. Coach Huggins, ya know the one who is a thug and doesn't care about his players, was down on all fours draped over his player like two soldiers in a battlefield. I am not a sappy guy, but it was a really touching moment. It turns out Da'Sean Butler tore his ACL. Any NBA dreams of his will have to be put on hold. Tough break for what seems like a great kid. I hope he gets better stat.
Overall, solid day of hoops. It is just so weird to think that Butler will play in the championship game though. Duke-Butler, review coming soon.
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First game featured #5 Michigan State vs #5 Butler, yet somehow this was billed as David vs. Goliath. Two teams with very similar styles, both play defense and rebound really well. As expected, the game was a tough, grind it out thriller. As not expected, Butler pulled off yet another victory over a school most thought they had no business being in the gym with. The Bulldogs' free throw shooting was really sketch down the stretch, I thought it was going to do them in but they managed to hold off the Spartans and advance to the National Championship game. That is right, Butler will be playing for all of the marbles. Interesting nugget here: Butler has held every opponent to under 60 points in the tournament. Impressive. Think about it.
Game two was the main event. CBS was so happy to have Duke on in prime time. How do I know this? Between Duke being given the biggest cakewalk of a bracket draw I can ever remember (Kansas was the #1 overall seed but had Ohio St and Georgetown in their bracket. Duke was the #3 overall seed and got Villanova and Baylor. Please.) and the refs handing them every possible call to date, especially in the Baylor game, you did not need to be a genius to see what was going on here. CBS and the NCAA needed Duke's brand name in the Final Four or else they would be hurting. Like I have said before, everyone loves a Cinderella story until they have to play in the next game.
Anyway, so here we are, 9pm on a Saturday night with #1 Duke vs. #2 West Virginia. The contrast between the two programs, the two coaches, the two schools is why I love sports. Coach K runs a tight, clean ship, appears to really care about his players graduating and going on to be "men" more than anything else. Huggins has the rep of not graduating his kids and doing anything possible to win basketball games. More on this later. The big X's and O's question in this one was how would Duke match up against WVU's vaunted 1-3-1 zone that has wreaked havoc on every opponent in their path in the tourney, especially Kentucky the week before who just could not solve it. Know what Duke did? They offensive rebounded like nothing I have ever seen, then kicked out to wide open jump shooters and just drilled three after three after three. Every possession was like Groundhog Day. WVU would play great defense, force Duke into a bad shot, and then let Duke beat them on the boards for a board-kick-three-swish. WVU still hung around though, they did their own thang on the offensive end to stay alive. There were a handful of moments in the 2nd half where all the Mountaineers needed was one stop and everything would have changed. They would usually force a miss, but then (guess what?), the Devils would get the board and capitalize. In the end, Duke was too much and won a game where WVU just said "Uncle" at the end.
With about four minutes left and WVU hanging on by a thread, their best player and team leader suffered a horrible knee injury. He was on the floor writhing in pain. Somehow, this produced one of the most heartfelt moments of the tourney. Coach Huggins, ya know the one who is a thug and doesn't care about his players, was down on all fours draped over his player like two soldiers in a battlefield. I am not a sappy guy, but it was a really touching moment. It turns out Da'Sean Butler tore his ACL. Any NBA dreams of his will have to be put on hold. Tough break for what seems like a great kid. I hope he gets better stat.
Overall, solid day of hoops. It is just so weird to think that Butler will play in the championship game though. Duke-Butler, review coming soon.
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Friday, April 2, 2010
Final Four Preview
Can the madness possibly continue? After the first two weekends we were all fortunate enough to witness, tomorrow's Final Four certainly has some high standards to live up to. Based on the matchups, I think it is possible. Most of the talking heads seem to think this Final Four lacks cache since there is only one #1 seed and only Duke and Michigan State pass the "brand name" test. I wholeheartedly disagree. From a straight up basketball perspective, I could not possibly be more excited for these matchups. Let's get it:
The early game, approximately 6:30 pm tipoff, is your #5 Michigan State Spartans out of the Midwest bracket going against the #5 Butler Bulldogs representing the West Bracket. For some reason, Butler is getting the whole underdog, "Hoosiers" label while MSU is getting the mighty Big 10 power label that is going to bully the smaller school. This is where the "brand name" thing comes into play. Yes, MSU has Tom Izzo, probably the best coach in the country. Yes, MSU seems to get to the final weekend of the tourney every other year or so. However, this is not your typical top five overall MSU team. First, their best player, Kalin Lucas is injured. They have no "go-to" stud player. This is just a bunch of hard working, rebound and play defense types who play their butts off for Lupe Izzo's husband. Conversely, Butler was ranked in the top 20 nationally all year long. Yet, because they are Butler, they automatically get the "sleeper" label. This is a legitimate basketball team that deserves to be playing this weekend. Not only did they beat Syracuse and Kansas State within 48 hours, but they totally dictated tempo in those games and looked like the better team. It wasn't like they staged massive comebacks or hit buzzer beaters or had some kind of luck come into play. This is a legit team, a dangerous team, and is actually FAVORED in this game against the "mighty" Spartans. With all that said, I like the Spartans to win a gritty, close game just like they have won all four of their games this tournament. Butler fans all over rejoice as I look to continue to be as wrong as possible on every prediction that I make. Spartans 76, Bulldogs 71 (as CBS rejoices).
The nightcap is CBS's money shot as they get their beloved #1 Duke Blue Devils in prime time going against #2 West Virginia. While WVU does not necessarily have brand name value, they have Coach Bob Huggins who is known nationally, for better or for worse. They also are coming off a Big East Tournament championship where they played on a Saturday night on ESPN at the Garden as well as taking down #1 seed and national darling Kentucky last week. So by now any casual fan knows that West Virginia means business. What makes this game so interesting to me is the contrasting styles. It's like a WNBA team (Duke) going against a team from the California Penal League (WVU). Duke likes to chill on the perimeter and let their guards drain threes. WVU, Kentucky game notwithstanding, can't shoot the rock from beyond the rock and likes to take it to the tin, get fouled, get put-backs, etc. Another interesting key to the game is how Duke responds to WVU's 1-3-1 zone. What I love about WVU is their team composition. They play five guys who all look the same and can all do the same thing (except for Da'Sean Butler who can shoot and score at will). They all seem to be 6'7" who are long and athletic and are hyperactive on defense. When Huggins plays these guys in the 1-3-1, they wreak absolute havoc on defense. Here's the interesting part - Baylor played a similar, havoc-wreaking zone all tournament that absolutely smothered teams until Coach K, on one day's prep, was able to cut that zone apart like he'd been practicing against it all year. So - will WVU's zone and ruggedness be able to bully the fragile Blue Devils? Or will Coach K's genius and the hot shooting of Scheyer and Singler make Duke able to sidestep Huggins' thug passion? Tough, tough call. This one has 'classic' written all over it. Gimme the bruisers. West Virginia 94, Duke 93 in double overtime. That's right.
That would give us a WVU/MSU finale on Monday night. If I had to call that one right now I'd take the Mountaineers again in a matchup I'd love to see. But I will give an in-depth anaylsis on Monday afternoon after the finals are set for sure. Stay tuned.
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The early game, approximately 6:30 pm tipoff, is your #5 Michigan State Spartans out of the Midwest bracket going against the #5 Butler Bulldogs representing the West Bracket. For some reason, Butler is getting the whole underdog, "Hoosiers" label while MSU is getting the mighty Big 10 power label that is going to bully the smaller school. This is where the "brand name" thing comes into play. Yes, MSU has Tom Izzo, probably the best coach in the country. Yes, MSU seems to get to the final weekend of the tourney every other year or so. However, this is not your typical top five overall MSU team. First, their best player, Kalin Lucas is injured. They have no "go-to" stud player. This is just a bunch of hard working, rebound and play defense types who play their butts off for Lupe Izzo's husband. Conversely, Butler was ranked in the top 20 nationally all year long. Yet, because they are Butler, they automatically get the "sleeper" label. This is a legitimate basketball team that deserves to be playing this weekend. Not only did they beat Syracuse and Kansas State within 48 hours, but they totally dictated tempo in those games and looked like the better team. It wasn't like they staged massive comebacks or hit buzzer beaters or had some kind of luck come into play. This is a legit team, a dangerous team, and is actually FAVORED in this game against the "mighty" Spartans. With all that said, I like the Spartans to win a gritty, close game just like they have won all four of their games this tournament. Butler fans all over rejoice as I look to continue to be as wrong as possible on every prediction that I make. Spartans 76, Bulldogs 71 (as CBS rejoices).
The nightcap is CBS's money shot as they get their beloved #1 Duke Blue Devils in prime time going against #2 West Virginia. While WVU does not necessarily have brand name value, they have Coach Bob Huggins who is known nationally, for better or for worse. They also are coming off a Big East Tournament championship where they played on a Saturday night on ESPN at the Garden as well as taking down #1 seed and national darling Kentucky last week. So by now any casual fan knows that West Virginia means business. What makes this game so interesting to me is the contrasting styles. It's like a WNBA team (Duke) going against a team from the California Penal League (WVU). Duke likes to chill on the perimeter and let their guards drain threes. WVU, Kentucky game notwithstanding, can't shoot the rock from beyond the rock and likes to take it to the tin, get fouled, get put-backs, etc. Another interesting key to the game is how Duke responds to WVU's 1-3-1 zone. What I love about WVU is their team composition. They play five guys who all look the same and can all do the same thing (except for Da'Sean Butler who can shoot and score at will). They all seem to be 6'7" who are long and athletic and are hyperactive on defense. When Huggins plays these guys in the 1-3-1, they wreak absolute havoc on defense. Here's the interesting part - Baylor played a similar, havoc-wreaking zone all tournament that absolutely smothered teams until Coach K, on one day's prep, was able to cut that zone apart like he'd been practicing against it all year. So - will WVU's zone and ruggedness be able to bully the fragile Blue Devils? Or will Coach K's genius and the hot shooting of Scheyer and Singler make Duke able to sidestep Huggins' thug passion? Tough, tough call. This one has 'classic' written all over it. Gimme the bruisers. West Virginia 94, Duke 93 in double overtime. That's right.
That would give us a WVU/MSU finale on Monday night. If I had to call that one right now I'd take the Mountaineers again in a matchup I'd love to see. But I will give an in-depth anaylsis on Monday afternoon after the finals are set for sure. Stay tuned.
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Monday, March 29, 2010
Weekend in Review
This tournament just keeps getting better and better. The last four days were an amazing display of basketball. Bracket pools all across the country must be a disaster. Our Final Four consists of two number five seeds, a two and a one. I cannot imagine anyone had this foursome. Let's break it down round by round, game by game.
Thursday night was big time. The early slate had #11 Washington play some great ball early on. They took it to #2 West Virginia in the first half, but they just did not have the talent or depth to keep up with the Mountaineers. WVU stepped up their game in the second half though and turned the game into a rout.
At the same time, #5 Butler pulled off a monster upset by beating #1 Syracuse. Something just looked off with 'Cuse all night. They were sloppy. They had a ton of turnovers. They just did not look right, yet, you always got the feeling they were going to turn it on and win the game. With a little less than ten minutes left, they were able to turn it on. They battled from ten points down to go up by four points. Then they made a big defensive stop. Up four with the ball, they looked to finally be in control. Instead of milking some clock and/or getting their best player, Wes Johnson, a touch, Scoop Jardine launches a quick, deep, awful three pointer that the Orange just did not need. After that Butler turned it on, came back and completed the upset. Butler keeps dancing en route to the Elite 8. 'Cuse? Going home, thanks for playing. Amazing.
Next up we had #1 Kentucky handle their business vs #12 Cornell. The Big Red played really tough, they were able to dictate some tempo and keep it a low scoring game. But Kentucky was just too tough and in the end talent won out. The final tally was a double digit victory for the Wildcats, but it was a good game nonetheless. Nice work, Cornell - that is what college hoops is all about.
The final game of the night was the game of the tournament. I mentioned in this space earlier that Maryland-MSU was the game of the tourney - and it was - but this Kansas State-Xavier game was one for the ages. After an incredibly well-played 39 and half minutes, KSU found themselves up three points. Xavier ball now with about ten seconds left inbounding from under their own hoop. Terrell Holloway flies up the court, and in a questionable strategical call from KSU coach Frank Martin, KSU tries to foul Holloway at half court. This would put him on the line shooting two shots with just a few seconds and, in turn, takes away his ability to shoot a three pointer to tie the game up. Personally, I understand the strategy but I hate giving away free points. I also hate it because what ensued is the worst case scenario, and it actually happened. The referee missed the foul on Holloway at half court. Holloway continues on about three more steps and manages to get a three pointer up while getting fouled by another KSU player. He is now going to the line for three shots. Bang. Bang. Timeout. Bang. Tie game. Keep in mind announcer Gus Johnson is going crazy at this point. The game went into double overtime where KSU eventually prevailed after a handful of "OH MY GOD" moments. What a game, one for the ages.
Friday was a little more tame but still solid. #6 Tennessee upset #2 Ohio State in a great game. OSU phenom Evan Turner just couldn't hit that last shot to put his team over the top, but I would rather go down swinging with my alpha dog than the way 'Cuse went out (i.e. Wes Johnson getting zero touches in the last six minutes).
#3 Baylor, in the meantime, went to town on #10 St. Mary's. You would think St. Mary's said something about Baylor's mama. Baylor was up thirty by halftime and just kept pouring it on. This was okay actually because I was able to focus all of my attention on the Tennessee game.
The late slate was pretty solid. #4 Purdue played with a ton of heart and definitely tested #1 Duke, but Duke pulled away in the final five minutes robbing us of a memorable ending. Give it to Matt Painter and his Purdue squad though. After losing their best player for the year and playing like hell in the Big 10 tournament, they came to play in the tourney and almost advanced to the Elite 8.
#5 Michigan State kept dancing as they beat #9 Northern Iowa in a wild one. MSU is another team that deserves a lot of credit here as their best player is also lost for the season. No matter, Tom Izzo has these guys playing at the highest level when it counts the most as he does most every year.
Elite 8 time. Saturday started off with a good one as #5 Butler kept their insane run going and upset #2 Kansas State and will improbably play in the Final Four next weekend. Amazing.
West Virginia beat Kentucky in a weird, wild game Saturday night. West Virginia, who has been awful from downtown all year, was on fire from three point land while Kentucky only hit 4 three's all game. That was the difference as West Virginia pulled off the mini-upset and advanced to the Final Four.
The madness continued on Sunday as Michigan State did it again, winning a thriller by hitting free throws with less than two seconds left to oust Tennessee. Tom Izzo is simply amazing, I have no idea how he does it.
And finally, with the NCAA needing at least one marquis team in the Final Four, they instructed the referees to give Duke every call against Baylor. Baylor played great, they were so impressive. But in the end they just had too much working against them.
So our 2010 Final Four has Michigan State squaring off against Butler at 6:30pm on Saturday and then Duke vs West Virginia at 9pm. You had that in your bracket, right? Right?
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Thursday night was big time. The early slate had #11 Washington play some great ball early on. They took it to #2 West Virginia in the first half, but they just did not have the talent or depth to keep up with the Mountaineers. WVU stepped up their game in the second half though and turned the game into a rout.
At the same time, #5 Butler pulled off a monster upset by beating #1 Syracuse. Something just looked off with 'Cuse all night. They were sloppy. They had a ton of turnovers. They just did not look right, yet, you always got the feeling they were going to turn it on and win the game. With a little less than ten minutes left, they were able to turn it on. They battled from ten points down to go up by four points. Then they made a big defensive stop. Up four with the ball, they looked to finally be in control. Instead of milking some clock and/or getting their best player, Wes Johnson, a touch, Scoop Jardine launches a quick, deep, awful three pointer that the Orange just did not need. After that Butler turned it on, came back and completed the upset. Butler keeps dancing en route to the Elite 8. 'Cuse? Going home, thanks for playing. Amazing.
Next up we had #1 Kentucky handle their business vs #12 Cornell. The Big Red played really tough, they were able to dictate some tempo and keep it a low scoring game. But Kentucky was just too tough and in the end talent won out. The final tally was a double digit victory for the Wildcats, but it was a good game nonetheless. Nice work, Cornell - that is what college hoops is all about.
The final game of the night was the game of the tournament. I mentioned in this space earlier that Maryland-MSU was the game of the tourney - and it was - but this Kansas State-Xavier game was one for the ages. After an incredibly well-played 39 and half minutes, KSU found themselves up three points. Xavier ball now with about ten seconds left inbounding from under their own hoop. Terrell Holloway flies up the court, and in a questionable strategical call from KSU coach Frank Martin, KSU tries to foul Holloway at half court. This would put him on the line shooting two shots with just a few seconds and, in turn, takes away his ability to shoot a three pointer to tie the game up. Personally, I understand the strategy but I hate giving away free points. I also hate it because what ensued is the worst case scenario, and it actually happened. The referee missed the foul on Holloway at half court. Holloway continues on about three more steps and manages to get a three pointer up while getting fouled by another KSU player. He is now going to the line for three shots. Bang. Bang. Timeout. Bang. Tie game. Keep in mind announcer Gus Johnson is going crazy at this point. The game went into double overtime where KSU eventually prevailed after a handful of "OH MY GOD" moments. What a game, one for the ages.
Friday was a little more tame but still solid. #6 Tennessee upset #2 Ohio State in a great game. OSU phenom Evan Turner just couldn't hit that last shot to put his team over the top, but I would rather go down swinging with my alpha dog than the way 'Cuse went out (i.e. Wes Johnson getting zero touches in the last six minutes).
#3 Baylor, in the meantime, went to town on #10 St. Mary's. You would think St. Mary's said something about Baylor's mama. Baylor was up thirty by halftime and just kept pouring it on. This was okay actually because I was able to focus all of my attention on the Tennessee game.
The late slate was pretty solid. #4 Purdue played with a ton of heart and definitely tested #1 Duke, but Duke pulled away in the final five minutes robbing us of a memorable ending. Give it to Matt Painter and his Purdue squad though. After losing their best player for the year and playing like hell in the Big 10 tournament, they came to play in the tourney and almost advanced to the Elite 8.
#5 Michigan State kept dancing as they beat #9 Northern Iowa in a wild one. MSU is another team that deserves a lot of credit here as their best player is also lost for the season. No matter, Tom Izzo has these guys playing at the highest level when it counts the most as he does most every year.
Elite 8 time. Saturday started off with a good one as #5 Butler kept their insane run going and upset #2 Kansas State and will improbably play in the Final Four next weekend. Amazing.
West Virginia beat Kentucky in a weird, wild game Saturday night. West Virginia, who has been awful from downtown all year, was on fire from three point land while Kentucky only hit 4 three's all game. That was the difference as West Virginia pulled off the mini-upset and advanced to the Final Four.
The madness continued on Sunday as Michigan State did it again, winning a thriller by hitting free throws with less than two seconds left to oust Tennessee. Tom Izzo is simply amazing, I have no idea how he does it.
And finally, with the NCAA needing at least one marquis team in the Final Four, they instructed the referees to give Duke every call against Baylor. Baylor played great, they were so impressive. But in the end they just had too much working against them.
So our 2010 Final Four has Michigan State squaring off against Butler at 6:30pm on Saturday and then Duke vs West Virginia at 9pm. You had that in your bracket, right? Right?
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Friday, March 26, 2010
Sweet 16 Preview - Friday
Let's see if I can keep this awful streak alive - I think I was 1 for 4 yesterday, and the one was Kentucky and that game was much closer than the score indicated. I never thought Kentucky was in real trouble, but they didn't dominate like I thought they would. 'Cuse = disappointing. What a stale performance, not sure what went on there. Washington played good ball for 20 minutes but couldn't keep up with WVU's athleticism and depth in the 2nd half. And of course Xavier-KSU was one for the ages, the game of the tourney to date. Yes, even better than Maryland-Mich State last Sunday. I'll be doing a full review of all this weekends games on Monday. For now, here's a preview of tonight's games, tip off in T-minus 2 hours.
We start off with #6 Tennessee and #2 Ohio State. This should be a good one. Both teams are athletic. Both shoot well. Both play good defense. Unfortunately for Tennessee, only one team has Evan Turner and it ain't them. ET should take over at some point and lead the Bucks to the Elite 8. I see a high scoring, close game throughout. Come crunch time, Turner's gonna pull an anti-Wes Johnson and just take over the game. In a game where the score won't indicate how close it really was, I'll say Ohio State 82 Tenessee 68.
At the same time we have an interesting matchup in #10 St. Mary's and #3 Baylor. I wish I can get more in depth about the matchup, but I only saw each team play for the first time last week. Baylor is long and athletic, kind of like a West Virginia lite (I like that). St. Mary's has a solid mix of shooters, bangers, and Australians. If St. Mary's big man Omar Samhan can get the ball within seven feet of the hoop, you can go ahead and mark it down. I'm just so impressed with the big man's ability through the first two games. Don't get me wrong, he's no Hakeem Olajuwon, but he finds a way to get it done. Let's call him a poor man's Tyler Hansbrough for argument's sake. So if Samhan can get it going, he opens up the offense and spreads the floor for the guards and then they can start raining threes like they did against Villanova. However, St. Mary's won't be sneaking up on anyone this time. Baylor has had 5 days to prepare for them. If they have an answer for the big fella, then Baylor can run away with this one. I'm gonna hedge and say St. Mary's plays a good game, but not good enough. Baylor 78 St. Mary's 73.
Now it gets really interesting: #9 Northern Iowa fresh off the biggest upset in over a decade vs #5 Michigan State fresh off a monster last second win over Maryland but fresher off the loss of their best player, Kaylen Lucas, to an ankle injury. I'm such a sucker for the Big Ten. I also think if you give Lupe Izzo's husband 5 days to game plan then he can beat anyone in the country. This includes mighty Northern Iowa. I think NIU, somewhat satisfied with their victory over Kansas, comes out shooting cold, MSU dominates the boards, presses and causes turnovers with their superior athleticism, and just bullies the smaller, less talented team (I hope Bill Self takes notes). MSU in a romp, 75-52.
Now we have the hardest game of the bunch to predict. #1 overrated Duke vs #4 playing without their best player and still somehow alive Purdue. I thought Purdue was going to lose to Sienna. Then I thought they were going to get smoked by Texas A&M. How are they still alive without Robbie Hummel? Did you see what they did int he Big Ten Tournament without him? It was embarrassing. I think Matt Painter is a tremendous coach and I applaud the what he's done with this team in this tournament, but, and it pains me to say this, I think their run ends here. Not that I'm in love with Duke or anything (see overrated comment above), but I do think they have enough to expose the smoke and mirrors the Boilers have created in the last week. Scheyer and Singler will stroke it tonight and we may have our first truly boring night of the tournament. Another romp, Duke 69 Purdue 49.
Tomorrow the Elite Eight kicks off with Kansas State vs Butler at 4:30pm (isn't it weird that one of those teams will be in the Final Four?) and then the game of the tournament on paper, #2 West Virginia vs #1 Kentucky. Oh Mama! Get your popcorn ready.
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We start off with #6 Tennessee and #2 Ohio State. This should be a good one. Both teams are athletic. Both shoot well. Both play good defense. Unfortunately for Tennessee, only one team has Evan Turner and it ain't them. ET should take over at some point and lead the Bucks to the Elite 8. I see a high scoring, close game throughout. Come crunch time, Turner's gonna pull an anti-Wes Johnson and just take over the game. In a game where the score won't indicate how close it really was, I'll say Ohio State 82 Tenessee 68.
At the same time we have an interesting matchup in #10 St. Mary's and #3 Baylor. I wish I can get more in depth about the matchup, but I only saw each team play for the first time last week. Baylor is long and athletic, kind of like a West Virginia lite (I like that). St. Mary's has a solid mix of shooters, bangers, and Australians. If St. Mary's big man Omar Samhan can get the ball within seven feet of the hoop, you can go ahead and mark it down. I'm just so impressed with the big man's ability through the first two games. Don't get me wrong, he's no Hakeem Olajuwon, but he finds a way to get it done. Let's call him a poor man's Tyler Hansbrough for argument's sake. So if Samhan can get it going, he opens up the offense and spreads the floor for the guards and then they can start raining threes like they did against Villanova. However, St. Mary's won't be sneaking up on anyone this time. Baylor has had 5 days to prepare for them. If they have an answer for the big fella, then Baylor can run away with this one. I'm gonna hedge and say St. Mary's plays a good game, but not good enough. Baylor 78 St. Mary's 73.
Now it gets really interesting: #9 Northern Iowa fresh off the biggest upset in over a decade vs #5 Michigan State fresh off a monster last second win over Maryland but fresher off the loss of their best player, Kaylen Lucas, to an ankle injury. I'm such a sucker for the Big Ten. I also think if you give Lupe Izzo's husband 5 days to game plan then he can beat anyone in the country. This includes mighty Northern Iowa. I think NIU, somewhat satisfied with their victory over Kansas, comes out shooting cold, MSU dominates the boards, presses and causes turnovers with their superior athleticism, and just bullies the smaller, less talented team (I hope Bill Self takes notes). MSU in a romp, 75-52.
Now we have the hardest game of the bunch to predict. #1 overrated Duke vs #4 playing without their best player and still somehow alive Purdue. I thought Purdue was going to lose to Sienna. Then I thought they were going to get smoked by Texas A&M. How are they still alive without Robbie Hummel? Did you see what they did int he Big Ten Tournament without him? It was embarrassing. I think Matt Painter is a tremendous coach and I applaud the what he's done with this team in this tournament, but, and it pains me to say this, I think their run ends here. Not that I'm in love with Duke or anything (see overrated comment above), but I do think they have enough to expose the smoke and mirrors the Boilers have created in the last week. Scheyer and Singler will stroke it tonight and we may have our first truly boring night of the tournament. Another romp, Duke 69 Purdue 49.
Tomorrow the Elite Eight kicks off with Kansas State vs Butler at 4:30pm (isn't it weird that one of those teams will be in the Final Four?) and then the game of the tournament on paper, #2 West Virginia vs #1 Kentucky. Oh Mama! Get your popcorn ready.
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Thursday, March 25, 2010
Sweet 16 Preview - Thursday
We're about 2 hours from the Sweet 16 tipping off and we have some good games on our hands tonight. I feel like an average college hoops fan isn't too impressed with this round's slate. On paper we don't have the monster vs monster matchups. This stems from all of the Cinderella stories that advanced to play in this round. Everyone roots for Northern Iowa to knock off Kansas because it is such a good story and everyone loves a good upset. But then five days pass and they realize they have to watch NIU play Michigan State instead of Kansas playing MSU, and now people are like, "kinda wish Kansas pulled that one out". But they didn't, and here we are. Deal with it, these games are gonna be money. Trust me, I'm batting like .150 on tourney predictions this year.
We tip off with tonight with #5 Butler against #1 Syracuse. This could be interesting. Stress "could". Butler will have to shoot like 60% from three to have any shot against the Orange Zone. 'Cuse has looked so good so far that I can't see them blowing this one. Most likely the Orange come out and just roll the Bulldogs en route to another 30+ point blowout. But, let's say Butler comes out shooting fire and they're hitting their threes, 'Cuse will have to extend the zone and then things can get interesting. I'll still take 'Cuse in a cakewalk, but just saying look out for a possible Butler shoot the lights out deal. Orange 81, Butler 64.
Possibly my favorite game of the night starts up shortly after the 'Cuse-Butler matchup. #11 Washington takes on #2 West Virginia. I just love the way these two teams matchup. WVU is long and lanky and it seems like everyone on their team is a 6'7" small forward who can handle, shoot, pass and D up. Washington has a bunch of little quick guards who shoot the three and play smart for coach Lorenzo Romar. Their main man so far in the tourney has been Quincy Pondexter. I'd love to see him put the squad on his back one more time and pick off this Mountaineer squad. He definitely has the talent, I just worry Bob Huggins is too good of a coach to let that happen. I think he'll swarm Pondexter and make him give up the rock which will force other Huskies to make plays, and that's not really their strong suit (you read that right). Washington did get some good news though yesterday when it was announced WVU's starting point guard will have to sit the rest of the tournament out with an ankle injury. You hate to hear that and always want to beat a team at full strength, but when you're an eleven seed wearing slippers, you'll take all the help you can get. OH man, this one's so tough to call. You know what? I'm doing it. Gimme Washington in a track meet, 87-82.
So after hopefully two triple overtime games that end with buzzer beaters, #2 Kansas State will get it on with #6 Xavier. This one is going to a battle. A slugfest. A brawl. You get it, right? Two very physical teams that have defensive minded coaches are going to square up and tried to out-slug the other guy. I'm feeling pretty good about Xavier here. They're the only team who I've had a good feel for since last week so I'm gonna keep riding them. Jordan Crawford is going to have to step up for the Musketeers like Q does for Washington. And similarly, KSU is coached by Bob Huggins' protege, Frank Martin. Just like Huggins will gameplan for Q, you better believe Frank's gonna have something drawn up for JC (Crawford, not Jesus). I think we're going low scoring, grind it out, close game here. Perhaps last team with the ball wins. Give me Xavier 61-58. I'll also take over 3.5 on total bodies Frank Martin and Bob Huggins have in their trunks right now.
Poor scheduling has us closing out the evening with the game that's least likely to be close. #1 Kentucky takes on the pesky #12 Cornell Big Red. Cornell has looked great so far, but they are no match for Kentucky. Just too fast, too athletic, too everything. Only thing Cornell has going for them here is their IQ - seriously. If you saw Kentucky in their SEC championship game against Mississippi State, they hit a bucket at the buzzer to tie it up and started going nuts. The whole team was piled on top of each other because THEY THOUGHT THEY WON THE GAME. But they only tied the game. Do the math and you see that this freshman-led squad has the capacity to make some serious mental mistakes on the big stage and if any team is smart enough to take advantage of said mistakes, it's the Ivy League kids with no scholarships, no NBA futures, and most likely no girlfriends. They're playing for memories, not draft position. Not to be wishy-washy here, I'm just trying to give you both sides of the story and tell you if the underdog wins, this is how they're going to win. With that said, gimme Kentucky. In a romp. Like, starters on the bench to start the second half romp. Final score, let's say 93-50 Wildcats. Ashley Judd's boyfriend is gonna be one happy dude tonight.
Only four games tonight is pretty disappointing, having eight to sixteen games on per day for four straight days last week is just too good, but we'll take what we got here and hopefully the upsets continue, because real college hoops fans know that it's not the name of the school that matters, its the kids fighting tooth and nail to make One Shining Moment and slip Cinderella the tongue. Let's get it on!
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We tip off with tonight with #5 Butler against #1 Syracuse. This could be interesting. Stress "could". Butler will have to shoot like 60% from three to have any shot against the Orange Zone. 'Cuse has looked so good so far that I can't see them blowing this one. Most likely the Orange come out and just roll the Bulldogs en route to another 30+ point blowout. But, let's say Butler comes out shooting fire and they're hitting their threes, 'Cuse will have to extend the zone and then things can get interesting. I'll still take 'Cuse in a cakewalk, but just saying look out for a possible Butler shoot the lights out deal. Orange 81, Butler 64.
Possibly my favorite game of the night starts up shortly after the 'Cuse-Butler matchup. #11 Washington takes on #2 West Virginia. I just love the way these two teams matchup. WVU is long and lanky and it seems like everyone on their team is a 6'7" small forward who can handle, shoot, pass and D up. Washington has a bunch of little quick guards who shoot the three and play smart for coach Lorenzo Romar. Their main man so far in the tourney has been Quincy Pondexter. I'd love to see him put the squad on his back one more time and pick off this Mountaineer squad. He definitely has the talent, I just worry Bob Huggins is too good of a coach to let that happen. I think he'll swarm Pondexter and make him give up the rock which will force other Huskies to make plays, and that's not really their strong suit (you read that right). Washington did get some good news though yesterday when it was announced WVU's starting point guard will have to sit the rest of the tournament out with an ankle injury. You hate to hear that and always want to beat a team at full strength, but when you're an eleven seed wearing slippers, you'll take all the help you can get. OH man, this one's so tough to call. You know what? I'm doing it. Gimme Washington in a track meet, 87-82.
So after hopefully two triple overtime games that end with buzzer beaters, #2 Kansas State will get it on with #6 Xavier. This one is going to a battle. A slugfest. A brawl. You get it, right? Two very physical teams that have defensive minded coaches are going to square up and tried to out-slug the other guy. I'm feeling pretty good about Xavier here. They're the only team who I've had a good feel for since last week so I'm gonna keep riding them. Jordan Crawford is going to have to step up for the Musketeers like Q does for Washington. And similarly, KSU is coached by Bob Huggins' protege, Frank Martin. Just like Huggins will gameplan for Q, you better believe Frank's gonna have something drawn up for JC (Crawford, not Jesus). I think we're going low scoring, grind it out, close game here. Perhaps last team with the ball wins. Give me Xavier 61-58. I'll also take over 3.5 on total bodies Frank Martin and Bob Huggins have in their trunks right now.
Poor scheduling has us closing out the evening with the game that's least likely to be close. #1 Kentucky takes on the pesky #12 Cornell Big Red. Cornell has looked great so far, but they are no match for Kentucky. Just too fast, too athletic, too everything. Only thing Cornell has going for them here is their IQ - seriously. If you saw Kentucky in their SEC championship game against Mississippi State, they hit a bucket at the buzzer to tie it up and started going nuts. The whole team was piled on top of each other because THEY THOUGHT THEY WON THE GAME. But they only tied the game. Do the math and you see that this freshman-led squad has the capacity to make some serious mental mistakes on the big stage and if any team is smart enough to take advantage of said mistakes, it's the Ivy League kids with no scholarships, no NBA futures, and most likely no girlfriends. They're playing for memories, not draft position. Not to be wishy-washy here, I'm just trying to give you both sides of the story and tell you if the underdog wins, this is how they're going to win. With that said, gimme Kentucky. In a romp. Like, starters on the bench to start the second half romp. Final score, let's say 93-50 Wildcats. Ashley Judd's boyfriend is gonna be one happy dude tonight.
Only four games tonight is pretty disappointing, having eight to sixteen games on per day for four straight days last week is just too good, but we'll take what we got here and hopefully the upsets continue, because real college hoops fans know that it's not the name of the school that matters, its the kids fighting tooth and nail to make One Shining Moment and slip Cinderella the tongue. Let's get it on!
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
2nd Round - Still Mad
Well - the second round did not disappoint. Pardon the hyperbole, but I really think that was the best first weekend of the tourney I've every seen. Friday had some down time, but some good ones sprinkled in as well (Wisco/Wofford, NM St/Mich St., among others). But then the 2nd round started up on Saturday with some serious expectations to live up to after the previous two days.
The second round slate kicked off with tenth seeded, unknown St. Mary's from way out west upsetting the mighty #2 seeded Villanova Wildcats. St. Mary's played a great game start to finish. 'Nova was able to make a little run and keep it kinda close based off of the talent gap between the two teams, but something was just not right down the stretch and St. Mary's was the better team at the end of the day. St. Mary's will take on Baylor in the second round - that doesn't scream "must-see", but it is about as intriguing a matchup we have in the Sweet 16.
Next up was Butler and Murray State playing in a 5/13 seeded matchup. Butler squeezed it out by two points. Great game all around, this is why I love college hoops. No future NBA players played in this game, it was just twenty college kids fighting like winning was the only thing in the world that mattered. While Butler was able to hold on, Murray State has to be happy with their performance in the tournament.
At the same time that the above game was being played, Ohio U. was trying to follow up their insane upset over G-town with another upset over Tennessee. Saturday was not their day. Ohio looked like the small, undersized, under-talented team that they are and Tennessee exposed them. The game was never close as Tennessee won in a double digit rout.
Next up: game of the weekend. The mighty, overall #1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks got upset in crazy fashion as ninth seeded Northern Iowa (YES, Northern Freaking Iowa) won by two points. NIU actually led pretty much from start to finish and controlled the tempo of the game. NIU was bombing threes and playing good defense and pushing the tempo the entire game. It's so weird, yes, he has a national title under his belt, but it has to be asked: is Bill Self a bad tournament coach? It seems like these things happen more often than Final Four runs. Too bad. On the other hand, NIU-Mich State (sans Kaylin Lucas) in the Sweet 16 is gonna be gooooood stuff.
The rest of the night was kind of a bore with no close games. However, that doesn't mean there weren't any upsets:
Old Dominion followed up their upset of Notre Dame with a quality showing vs Baylor, but in the end Baylor showed they were #3 seed-worthy, winning by eight points, but it was not as close as the score indicated. Baylor's pretty impressive. I think if I saw them play during the year I would've planned big things for them in my bracket pools (I love hindsight!).
The #3/#11 New Mexico/Washington was a blowout in every sense of the word. But it was the eleventh seeded Huskies doing the blowing out. In what was supposed to be a down year for the Pac-10, Lorenzo Romar has his boys playing really well when it matters most (cliche alert). Quincy Pondexter is no joke, reminds me of former Huskie and current Blazer Brandon Roy. He can do it all and loves taking the big shot. Dangerous team.
Kansas State showed again that they came to play some basketball. They haven't seen one threat in the first two rounds as Frank Martin has his boys playing with purpose. It's hard to believe this team lost three times to Kansas during the season, and looked completely overmatched in 2 of those 3 outings. Now, they're still dancing while the Jayhawks are back in History classes. This game is funny. Anyway - KSU beat BYU by 12. Nothing memorable happened. Consider yourself informed.
The final game on Saturday featured John Calipari's Wildcats of Kentucky continuing to look hungry and blowing Wake Forest out of the water. This game was never close. Kentucky is ballin', watch out everyone else.
So that was it for Saturday. Sunday was pretty boring (ummmm, not really). Read the next post for the Sunday wrap-up.
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The second round slate kicked off with tenth seeded, unknown St. Mary's from way out west upsetting the mighty #2 seeded Villanova Wildcats. St. Mary's played a great game start to finish. 'Nova was able to make a little run and keep it kinda close based off of the talent gap between the two teams, but something was just not right down the stretch and St. Mary's was the better team at the end of the day. St. Mary's will take on Baylor in the second round - that doesn't scream "must-see", but it is about as intriguing a matchup we have in the Sweet 16.
Next up was Butler and Murray State playing in a 5/13 seeded matchup. Butler squeezed it out by two points. Great game all around, this is why I love college hoops. No future NBA players played in this game, it was just twenty college kids fighting like winning was the only thing in the world that mattered. While Butler was able to hold on, Murray State has to be happy with their performance in the tournament.
At the same time that the above game was being played, Ohio U. was trying to follow up their insane upset over G-town with another upset over Tennessee. Saturday was not their day. Ohio looked like the small, undersized, under-talented team that they are and Tennessee exposed them. The game was never close as Tennessee won in a double digit rout.
Next up: game of the weekend. The mighty, overall #1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks got upset in crazy fashion as ninth seeded Northern Iowa (YES, Northern Freaking Iowa) won by two points. NIU actually led pretty much from start to finish and controlled the tempo of the game. NIU was bombing threes and playing good defense and pushing the tempo the entire game. It's so weird, yes, he has a national title under his belt, but it has to be asked: is Bill Self a bad tournament coach? It seems like these things happen more often than Final Four runs. Too bad. On the other hand, NIU-Mich State (sans Kaylin Lucas) in the Sweet 16 is gonna be gooooood stuff.
The rest of the night was kind of a bore with no close games. However, that doesn't mean there weren't any upsets:
Old Dominion followed up their upset of Notre Dame with a quality showing vs Baylor, but in the end Baylor showed they were #3 seed-worthy, winning by eight points, but it was not as close as the score indicated. Baylor's pretty impressive. I think if I saw them play during the year I would've planned big things for them in my bracket pools (I love hindsight!).
The #3/#11 New Mexico/Washington was a blowout in every sense of the word. But it was the eleventh seeded Huskies doing the blowing out. In what was supposed to be a down year for the Pac-10, Lorenzo Romar has his boys playing really well when it matters most (cliche alert). Quincy Pondexter is no joke, reminds me of former Huskie and current Blazer Brandon Roy. He can do it all and loves taking the big shot. Dangerous team.
Kansas State showed again that they came to play some basketball. They haven't seen one threat in the first two rounds as Frank Martin has his boys playing with purpose. It's hard to believe this team lost three times to Kansas during the season, and looked completely overmatched in 2 of those 3 outings. Now, they're still dancing while the Jayhawks are back in History classes. This game is funny. Anyway - KSU beat BYU by 12. Nothing memorable happened. Consider yourself informed.
The final game on Saturday featured John Calipari's Wildcats of Kentucky continuing to look hungry and blowing Wake Forest out of the water. This game was never close. Kentucky is ballin', watch out everyone else.
So that was it for Saturday. Sunday was pretty boring (ummmm, not really). Read the next post for the Sunday wrap-up.
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Friday, March 19, 2010
Madness - Not Just a Clever Name
Of all my years of watching the NCAA Tournament, I don't remember an opening day of that quality. Or any day for that matter. You heard me, I think that might have been the best day in March Madness (and college basketball) history. I mean, starting right at 12:20 pm, we got hit with 3 amazing games and each slate provided a level of excitement, competitiveness, and drama that I simply have not seen before.
Let's start with the early games. We had 15 seeded Robert Morris take Villanova to overtime and the brink of elimination. 'Nova just wasn't ready to play, I think they were looking ahead and probably didn't even watch any tape on Bobby Mo (trademark @sportsguy33). From what I have read and heard, it sounds like the refs were seriously in 'Nova's corner and that was a big factor in their victory. Somehow I missed all of these blown calls because I was too busy focusing on the rest of the madness. At the same time, 7 seeded BYU took down 10 Florida in double overtime. What a game. BYU has a couple of big time players and they're gonna be a handful for Kansas St and whoever else might get in their way. Also going on at the same time, the 11 seeded Old Dominion squad took down the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Yes, the same ND squad I touted as a sleeper final four pick in this very blog. It is amazing that I can love college hoops so much, and watch so much of this sport, and yet come tourney time I can't pick one game right. Amazing. Anyway, ND can blame their loss solely on big man Luke Harangody. The guy is a double double machine in the Big East but he could only manage 2 buckets against OD. Pathetic.
The next slate wasn't quite as good, but it was still money. We had 13 seeded Murray State upset #4 Vanderbilt on a genuine buzzer beater. Again, cue madness. We also had competitive games in Richmond/St Mary's and Baylor/Sam Houston St. but both winners (STM and Baylor) pulled away at the end and allowed the country to catch their breath. We also saw our first blowout of the day as K-State handled their bizness over North Texas.
The west coast filler game, UTEP/Butler, had so much potential. The first half was such a great half of basketball. Both teams looked poised to take it to the next level. Then UTEP took Nyquil during halftime while Butler ate oranges and the Bulldogs just blew UTEP out in the second half. Disappointing.
7:30 pm. What's that, 4 more games are starting now? Word. Since we hadn't seen a buzzer beater or a big upset in a few hours, the hoops gods decided to bless us with a money slate here. While Kentucky came to play, one of my other go to final four teams, Georgetown, laid an enormous brick and got blown out by 14 seed Ohio U. What a pathetic display as they only mustered one mini-run to get it down to 7 points with about 7 minutes left, but then they went right back to falling apart. Upset Special? Check. Ok, then we had the always dramatic 8/9 matchup where Northern Iowa and UNLV played an amazing game of contrasting styles (ya know, NIU kids go to class and church while UNLV kids go to casinos and strip clubs). Oh, I meant contrasting hoops styles. Anyway. one of the NIU kids that looks like everyone else on his team hit a 3 pointer from South Africa with one second left to win it for the feisty mid-major. And then just for good measure, the 11 seeded Washington Huskies mounted a monster comeback against #6 Marquette (damn you, Big East) and took them down with a sick one on one play by Quincy Pondexter with just a few seconds left. Wow - very, very good times.
I'm tired at this point, should I just go home and get some rest? Ha, no chance. The late slate was cash money to fit in with the theme of the day. We had top seeded Kansas get a legit run for their money from 16 Lehigh. We had Tennessee win in the last minute over 11th seed San Diego State. There was another thrilling 8/9 game where Wake Forest hit a deep 3 with 3 seconds left in overtime to take down Texas. And finally, Montana staged a valiant comeback from down 14 in the 2nd half against New Mexico only to lose a very close game at the end.
If today is half as good as yesterday, I will a happy man once again. God bless March Madness.
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Let's start with the early games. We had 15 seeded Robert Morris take Villanova to overtime and the brink of elimination. 'Nova just wasn't ready to play, I think they were looking ahead and probably didn't even watch any tape on Bobby Mo (trademark @sportsguy33). From what I have read and heard, it sounds like the refs were seriously in 'Nova's corner and that was a big factor in their victory. Somehow I missed all of these blown calls because I was too busy focusing on the rest of the madness. At the same time, 7 seeded BYU took down 10 Florida in double overtime. What a game. BYU has a couple of big time players and they're gonna be a handful for Kansas St and whoever else might get in their way. Also going on at the same time, the 11 seeded Old Dominion squad took down the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Yes, the same ND squad I touted as a sleeper final four pick in this very blog. It is amazing that I can love college hoops so much, and watch so much of this sport, and yet come tourney time I can't pick one game right. Amazing. Anyway, ND can blame their loss solely on big man Luke Harangody. The guy is a double double machine in the Big East but he could only manage 2 buckets against OD. Pathetic.
The next slate wasn't quite as good, but it was still money. We had 13 seeded Murray State upset #4 Vanderbilt on a genuine buzzer beater. Again, cue madness. We also had competitive games in Richmond/St Mary's and Baylor/Sam Houston St. but both winners (STM and Baylor) pulled away at the end and allowed the country to catch their breath. We also saw our first blowout of the day as K-State handled their bizness over North Texas.
The west coast filler game, UTEP/Butler, had so much potential. The first half was such a great half of basketball. Both teams looked poised to take it to the next level. Then UTEP took Nyquil during halftime while Butler ate oranges and the Bulldogs just blew UTEP out in the second half. Disappointing.
7:30 pm. What's that, 4 more games are starting now? Word. Since we hadn't seen a buzzer beater or a big upset in a few hours, the hoops gods decided to bless us with a money slate here. While Kentucky came to play, one of my other go to final four teams, Georgetown, laid an enormous brick and got blown out by 14 seed Ohio U. What a pathetic display as they only mustered one mini-run to get it down to 7 points with about 7 minutes left, but then they went right back to falling apart. Upset Special? Check. Ok, then we had the always dramatic 8/9 matchup where Northern Iowa and UNLV played an amazing game of contrasting styles (ya know, NIU kids go to class and church while UNLV kids go to casinos and strip clubs). Oh, I meant contrasting hoops styles. Anyway. one of the NIU kids that looks like everyone else on his team hit a 3 pointer from South Africa with one second left to win it for the feisty mid-major. And then just for good measure, the 11 seeded Washington Huskies mounted a monster comeback against #6 Marquette (damn you, Big East) and took them down with a sick one on one play by Quincy Pondexter with just a few seconds left. Wow - very, very good times.
I'm tired at this point, should I just go home and get some rest? Ha, no chance. The late slate was cash money to fit in with the theme of the day. We had top seeded Kansas get a legit run for their money from 16 Lehigh. We had Tennessee win in the last minute over 11th seed San Diego State. There was another thrilling 8/9 game where Wake Forest hit a deep 3 with 3 seconds left in overtime to take down Texas. And finally, Montana staged a valiant comeback from down 14 in the 2nd half against New Mexico only to lose a very close game at the end.
If today is half as good as yesterday, I will a happy man once again. God bless March Madness.
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Huge East
Every bracket I fill out seems to have the Big (Huge?) East dominating this tournament. I realize this sounds insane, but I can see a scenario where somehow four Big East teams comprise the Final Four.
Let's break it down by seed; we have Syracuse as a 1, West Virginia and 'Nova as a 2, G-town and Pitt as 3's, Notre Dame and Marquette as a 6, and the 'Ville as a 9. Would you be surprised if any of these teams went all the way? I guess the casual fan doesn't see a Marquette or a Notre Dame as a Final Four option, but if you've seen them play and know their strengths I think they have what it takes. Not to mention that these teams beat up on each other all year long, so there will inevitably be a handful of good teams with some bad marks on their resume due to scheduling.
The crazy part is that there are some Big East teams that are money and didn't even make it to the Big Dance. UCONN had a huge choke job down the stretch. Cincy has the talent but due to the carnivore nature of the conference, they just lost too many games, albeit against quality teams. St. Johns wasn't quite ready this year, but they have a lot of upper classmen and should be back on the map next year.
My current bracket has G-town, West Virginia, and Notre Dame in the Final Four, but I wouldn't be surprised to see any combination of 4 of these teams still dancing in April.
Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper
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Let's break it down by seed; we have Syracuse as a 1, West Virginia and 'Nova as a 2, G-town and Pitt as 3's, Notre Dame and Marquette as a 6, and the 'Ville as a 9. Would you be surprised if any of these teams went all the way? I guess the casual fan doesn't see a Marquette or a Notre Dame as a Final Four option, but if you've seen them play and know their strengths I think they have what it takes. Not to mention that these teams beat up on each other all year long, so there will inevitably be a handful of good teams with some bad marks on their resume due to scheduling.
The crazy part is that there are some Big East teams that are money and didn't even make it to the Big Dance. UCONN had a huge choke job down the stretch. Cincy has the talent but due to the carnivore nature of the conference, they just lost too many games, albeit against quality teams. St. Johns wasn't quite ready this year, but they have a lot of upper classmen and should be back on the map next year.
My current bracket has G-town, West Virginia, and Notre Dame in the Final Four, but I wouldn't be surprised to see any combination of 4 of these teams still dancing in April.
Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper
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Friday Schedule
Friday's schedule for your reference:
12pm Slate
Morgan St/West Virginia
Minnesota/Xavier
Cornell/Temple
2pm Slate
Sienna/Purdue
Missouri/Clemson
Oakland/Pittsburgh
Wofford/Wisconsin
Lone 5pm Game
Utah St/Texas A&M
7pm Slate
FSU/Gonzaga
Georgia Tech/Oklahoma St
New Mexico St/Michigan St
Play-In Game Winner/Duke
9pm Slate
Vermont/Syracuse
UCSB/Ohio St
Houston/Maryland
California/Louisville
Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper
...and that wraps up the best two days of my year, every year. I couldn't be more excited if I tried.
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12pm Slate
Morgan St/West Virginia
Minnesota/Xavier
Cornell/Temple
2pm Slate
Sienna/Purdue
Missouri/Clemson
Oakland/Pittsburgh
Wofford/Wisconsin
Lone 5pm Game
Utah St/Texas A&M
7pm Slate
FSU/Gonzaga
Georgia Tech/Oklahoma St
New Mexico St/Michigan St
Play-In Game Winner/Duke
9pm Slate
Vermont/Syracuse
UCSB/Ohio St
Houston/Maryland
California/Louisville
Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper
...and that wraps up the best two days of my year, every year. I couldn't be more excited if I tried.
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Thursday Schedule
Here is Thursday's schedule for your convenience:
12pm Slate
Forida/BYU
Notre Dame/Old Dominion
Robert Morris/Villanova
2pm Slate
Murray St/Vandy
North Texas/Kansas St
Sam Houston St/Baylor
St Marys/Richmond
Lone 5pm Game
Butler/UTEP
7pm Slate
Northern Iowa/UNLV
E Tennessee St/Kentucky
Washington/Marquette
Ohio/Georgetown
9pm Slate
Lehigh/Kansas
Wake Forest/Texas
Montana/New Mexico
San Diego St/Tennessee
Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper
Enjoy the games!!
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12pm Slate
Forida/BYU
Notre Dame/Old Dominion
Robert Morris/Villanova
2pm Slate
Murray St/Vandy
North Texas/Kansas St
Sam Houston St/Baylor
St Marys/Richmond
Lone 5pm Game
Butler/UTEP
7pm Slate
Northern Iowa/UNLV
E Tennessee St/Kentucky
Washington/Marquette
Ohio/Georgetown
9pm Slate
Lehigh/Kansas
Wake Forest/Texas
Montana/New Mexico
San Diego St/Tennessee
Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper
Enjoy the games!!
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Sleeper Specials
Of course you can look at my upset specials and reverse engineer my sleeper specials, but I think it runs a little deeper than that. My sleeper specials are the teams, lets call them #6 seeds and below, that I think can make some serious noise this weekend and who will be playing in the Sweet 16 and beyond. Enjoy....
Notre Dame - this 6 seed keeps finding its way into my Final 4 in every bracket I fill out. For some reason I just picture us all, about 3.5 weeks from now, saying "how did we not know Luke Harangody was this good"? I think he has a monster tourney and puts the Irish on his back en route to a mega-run. Not to mention their first two games are against Old Dominion and #3 seed Baylor (say that again out loud).
UTEP & Murray State - I like both of these teams to win their 1st round games (over Butler and Vandy, respectively) which leads to the once every 3 years #12 vs #13 game and insures a double digit seed in the Sweet 16.
Louisville - weird calling them a sleeper but the fact is that they are a 9 seed. They will beat Duke in that 12pm game Saturday (why does Duke always play in that game?), and they will be playing come the 2nd weekend.
Xavier - watch out for Jordan Crawford, everyone will be talking about him within the next 5 days. He has "carry you on my back" potential.
Temple - I'm cheating a bit here, but I like this #5 seed to make some noise. I think they win their first two and then give Kentucky a run for their money in the 3rd, but come up just short.
And don't forget, while filling out your bracket: Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper.
Thank me later.
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Notre Dame - this 6 seed keeps finding its way into my Final 4 in every bracket I fill out. For some reason I just picture us all, about 3.5 weeks from now, saying "how did we not know Luke Harangody was this good"? I think he has a monster tourney and puts the Irish on his back en route to a mega-run. Not to mention their first two games are against Old Dominion and #3 seed Baylor (say that again out loud).
UTEP & Murray State - I like both of these teams to win their 1st round games (over Butler and Vandy, respectively) which leads to the once every 3 years #12 vs #13 game and insures a double digit seed in the Sweet 16.
Louisville - weird calling them a sleeper but the fact is that they are a 9 seed. They will beat Duke in that 12pm game Saturday (why does Duke always play in that game?), and they will be playing come the 2nd weekend.
Xavier - watch out for Jordan Crawford, everyone will be talking about him within the next 5 days. He has "carry you on my back" potential.
Temple - I'm cheating a bit here, but I like this #5 seed to make some noise. I think they win their first two and then give Kentucky a run for their money in the 3rd, but come up just short.
And don't forget, while filling out your bracket: Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper.
Thank me later.
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Upset Special
Here are some thoughts on teams that I think have a good shot of being upset aka teams to avoid in your bracket pools:
Kansas - in my mind this the only #1 seed I think has a shot of not getting to the Sweet 16. Most people will disagree since they're the #1 overall seed, but that's even more of a reason to take UNLV in the 2nd round over them. This alone can put you in good position to win your pool.
Purdue - wouldn't really be considered an upset since their best player, Robbie Hummel, is out for the season. Regardless, this team isn't even close to a 4 seed without Hummel. Fill out your bracket accordingly.
Vanderbilt - another 4 seed I just have no faith in. They had a nice season and all but they showed they can't hang with the big boys like Kentucky. I'm also not sure they can hang with the mid-majors. I see them playing one, two games max.
Maryland - wow, I really don't like the 4 seeds I guess. They should roll Houston but they have a tough 2nd round matchup vs Michigan State. You don't mess with Lupe Izzo in March, that's just NCAA Tourney 101.
Duke - you knew it was coming. L'ville beats them in overtime in round 2. Book it.
New Mexico - great year for these guys, Steve Alford has them playing at a ridiculous level.....against mediocre competition. Watch out for Marquette to smoke 'em in the 2nd. Marquette has some serious staying power in this tournament, they are legit.
What you need to know when filling out your brackets is that historically, 4 and 5 seeds tend to get upset in the 1st round a pretty good amount. When filling out your bracket and strategically looking for upsets, remember this tidbit and also remember that the brackets are never "chalk", there are ALWAYS upsets, you need to take some chances and guess where they will happen and that is how you will win your pool. Want to know the best way to make your picks? Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper.
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Kansas - in my mind this the only #1 seed I think has a shot of not getting to the Sweet 16. Most people will disagree since they're the #1 overall seed, but that's even more of a reason to take UNLV in the 2nd round over them. This alone can put you in good position to win your pool.
Purdue - wouldn't really be considered an upset since their best player, Robbie Hummel, is out for the season. Regardless, this team isn't even close to a 4 seed without Hummel. Fill out your bracket accordingly.
Vanderbilt - another 4 seed I just have no faith in. They had a nice season and all but they showed they can't hang with the big boys like Kentucky. I'm also not sure they can hang with the mid-majors. I see them playing one, two games max.
Maryland - wow, I really don't like the 4 seeds I guess. They should roll Houston but they have a tough 2nd round matchup vs Michigan State. You don't mess with Lupe Izzo in March, that's just NCAA Tourney 101.
Duke - you knew it was coming. L'ville beats them in overtime in round 2. Book it.
New Mexico - great year for these guys, Steve Alford has them playing at a ridiculous level.....against mediocre competition. Watch out for Marquette to smoke 'em in the 2nd. Marquette has some serious staying power in this tournament, they are legit.
What you need to know when filling out your brackets is that historically, 4 and 5 seeds tend to get upset in the 1st round a pretty good amount. When filling out your bracket and strategically looking for upsets, remember this tidbit and also remember that the brackets are never "chalk", there are ALWAYS upsets, you need to take some chances and guess where they will happen and that is how you will win your pool. Want to know the best way to make your picks? Gut/Research/Favorite/Sleeper.
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Expansion?
For those that live in a cave (in which you're probably not reading this, whatever), the NCAA is discussing two major changes to the tournament:
1. Expanding to 96 teams
2. Awarding the TV contract to ESPN
These two things are not mutually exclusive. Behind closed doors, ESPN execs are probably saying something like, "look, we'll double what CBS pays you for TV rights, but you gotta give us 32 more teams so we have more games to air and so even the casual fan who only watches college hoops in March can hate Dick Vitale too".
And here we are, this seems to be an immovable force that will happen. Label me disappointed. Not only will this dilute the quality of the tournament, but it will devalue the regular season (and I watch a lot of regular season college hoops).
Hopefully everyone will come to their senses and realize the tourney is about as perfect as it can get right now, but when this money is involved we know what usually wins out.
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1. Expanding to 96 teams
2. Awarding the TV contract to ESPN
These two things are not mutually exclusive. Behind closed doors, ESPN execs are probably saying something like, "look, we'll double what CBS pays you for TV rights, but you gotta give us 32 more teams so we have more games to air and so even the casual fan who only watches college hoops in March can hate Dick Vitale too".
And here we are, this seems to be an immovable force that will happen. Label me disappointed. Not only will this dilute the quality of the tournament, but it will devalue the regular season (and I watch a lot of regular season college hoops).
Hopefully everyone will come to their senses and realize the tourney is about as perfect as it can get right now, but when this money is involved we know what usually wins out.
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Monday, March 15, 2010
Fantasy March Madness
Does anyone out there do a fantasy style march madness pool? I've been in one for years now, where we draft a bunch of players and then the team with the most points at the end of the tourney wins the tokens. An added wrinkle is that we have to draft two players from double digit seeded teams (including one from a 14+ team). Here are a few guys I like:
Armon Basset - Ohio U. - stud point guard, and as we know this tourney is all about guard play. Basset's a former Hoosier with elite program pedigree, I can see him making some noise this weekend.
Anthony Johnson - Montana - dropped 42 in the Big Sky Championship game at Weber St. Kid has serious skills, even if I only get one game out of him he's a guaranteed 20 spot.
Jordan Crawford - Xavier - another former Hoosier (thanks Kelvin!), he's the kid from the legendary 'dunk over Lebron at Nike camp' story from last year. He's good, trust me.
Evan Turner - Ohio St. - hard hitting analysis
Da'Sean Butler - West Virginia - as mentioned above, I just love this kid's game + experience
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Armon Basset - Ohio U. - stud point guard, and as we know this tourney is all about guard play. Basset's a former Hoosier with elite program pedigree, I can see him making some noise this weekend.
Anthony Johnson - Montana - dropped 42 in the Big Sky Championship game at Weber St. Kid has serious skills, even if I only get one game out of him he's a guaranteed 20 spot.
Jordan Crawford - Xavier - another former Hoosier (thanks Kelvin!), he's the kid from the legendary 'dunk over Lebron at Nike camp' story from last year. He's good, trust me.
Evan Turner - Ohio St. - hard hitting analysis
Da'Sean Butler - West Virginia - as mentioned above, I just love this kid's game + experience
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Predictions
I haven't fully broken down the brackets yet, so my opinion might change come Thursday. In general I like the 2 seeds. This isn't earth shattering, but I have more faith in these 4 teams as a group than I do the 1's. West Virginia in particular, I think they have what it takes to win it all. Great coaching in Bob Huggins. Height, depth, athleticism....they have all that. Then they have the one thing I love most come tourney time, the one thing that seems to go overlooked year in and year out: they have the experienced senior who loves taking the clutch shot. His name is Da'Sean Butler. He had 2 game winning shots in the Big East tourney, and if any games are close in the next month he will be the guy taking the shot. So I like WVU winning the tourney with Butler as the MVP. To round out my final four I'll take Syracuse, Ohio St., and Villanova. Kind of chalky for my taste, I usually like to pick a 3+ seed to make some noise but I'm not seeing anything that jumps out. Maybe Michigan St, Notre Dame, or Louisville? Who cares, just play the games already!!
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Tourney Time
I really love this time of year. The anticipation of the NCAA Tournament is my most favorite thing. As usual, the conference tournaments didn't disappoint. It seemed like every Big East game went down to the wire, including the finals which was just an amazingly well-played game by both West Virginia and Georgetown. Miss St. choked big time yesterday by letting Kentucky fight back, tie it up at the buzzer, and eventually win in overtime.
Overall I thought the selection committee did a good job picking the field of 65. There were some snubs (Miss St, Zona St, Va Tech, etc) but it's impossible to get a field of 65 100% right. So for the most part I think they did well, and in some breaking news, I think the tournament's gonna be good this year.
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Overall I thought the selection committee did a good job picking the field of 65. There were some snubs (Miss St, Zona St, Va Tech, etc) but it's impossible to get a field of 65 100% right. So for the most part I think they did well, and in some breaking news, I think the tournament's gonna be good this year.
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