I thought there would be no better way to preview all things Major League Baseball than to bring my two friends, Tom and Curt, into a discussion. Tom and Curt enjoy baseball as much as anyone I know. They follow all of the statistical trends, know the minor league reports and follow all thirty teams as closely as the paid professionals. We will talk Pirates, the Central Division, division winners, wildcards, World Series predictions, breakout players, rookies to watch and fantasy sleepers and busts. Basically, we are going to talk about everything involved with Major League Baseball. Without further ado, grab your hat, your glove and your bat and let’s kick off this marathon chat of all things baseball:
(Editor’s note I, and by editor I mean me: This is a two-part series, click here to check out Part II of our baseball preview!)
(Editor’s note II: This was a fast moving conversation that touched on a ton of subjects. Spare us a few typos or broken English, I tried my best to clean it up. Hope you enjoy!)
Me: Ok Guys, first off, thanks for joining me! I hope you guys enjoy this as much I know I will. Let's get started right away with your thoughts on the Pirates. I predicted a couple of weeks ago that they would finish 74-88. I have seen nothing in spring training that has led me to improve that prediction. What do you guys see?
Curt: Funny, I just told someone 73 for a pool this morning. Division stinks.
Tom: I don't see 73 wins for the Pirates with only 2.5 players that could even play on the Yankees. McCutchen is without question better than Nate McLouth, but that addition is more than offset by the step down at multiple positions. Unless Garrett Jones is actually Babe Ruth, I don't see 73 or 74 wins.
Curt: It is more of an anti central prediction. Anyone not named the Cards can lose 90+ no problem.
Tom: The Cardinals are good. The Cubs will take a couple steps back as most of the team is on the wrong side of 30. Milwaukee again is loaded, although losing Mike Cameron and replacing him with Carlos Gomez is going to hurt more than they anticipate. The Reds are improved on last season's finish. The only place they can make up wins is on the atrocious sans-Berkman Astros. And that isn't enough to make up 10+ wins.
Curt: 2nd will be better, SS worse, what other positions? 1st is a big downgrade almost certainly, 1st or RF I guess I should say, wherever Garrett Jones does not play. Catcher will be better with a healthy Ryan Doumit.
Tom: Garret Jones is a downgrade on his performance last season, almost assuredly
Curt: For sure, Doumit is not OPS 600 again though, I don't think.
Me: Well, Tom touched on it a little, how do you guys see the Central Division finishing?
Tom: In my non-homer vision...
Me: Tom is a big Reds fan, full-disclosure!
Tom: The Cardinals at 90+wins. Brewers, Reds, Cubs all battling right around .500. The entire Astros season hinges on the health of Lance Berkman. His bat just isn't replaceable and he's had his knee scoped and it hasn't reacted positively. He still has significant pain with minor activity. He isn't there yet, but "microfracture surgery" is being thrown about.
Curt: 1. Cards 2. Brewers 3. Reds 4. Cubs 5. Bucs 6. Astros
Curt: Lineup is not that good with him in it. They are headed for major trouble.
Me: I think I see the Cards way out in front as well, and agree the Brew Crew, Reds and Cubs all fall somewhere in the 78-82 win range with Houston and Pittsburgh battling it out to stay out of the cellar.
Me: The Pirates are obviously going to struggle to score runs with such little power in the line-up. This spring has just proven that train of thought further. John Russell has said he is going to bat the pitcher 8th this year. I know statistically that this is supposed to produce more runs, but it goes against much of the conventional baseball wisdom. What do you guys think of this move for the Pirates?
Curt: It’s clearly great. This team has one really good player (Andrew McCutchen).
Tom: Batting the pitcher 8th adds about 10-15 runs over the course of the season. The Pirates need all the help they can get to make 700 runs.
Curt: They are maximizing his AB's with Aki leading off followed by Cutch and P batting 8th.
Tom: Lineup construction in the micro sense is vastly overrated. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter a whole bunch, fractions of wins.
Tom: As long as the manager doesn't do absolutely crazy things like lead-off Corey Patterson or something. (Me: Another Reds reference from Tom, referring to Patterson’s horrible on base percentage.) But the fans certainly like to complain about it. It is something they can see every day and easily augment.
Me: I couldn’t agree more, it’s really nice to see the Pirates thinking outside of the box and using more modern methods of evaluating talent, line-up construction, etc.
Me: Speaking of which, and before we dive into the rest of our topics, what do you guys think, or more specifically, how do you value, the new defensive metrics that are out there?
Curt: Important but overrated. Pirates did not win the Bay trade because Andy LaRoche can field 3rd base for example.
Tom: The teams have far more advanced fielding metrics than publicly available to fans. This is evident from the path of the more statistically advanced teams out there. The A's have changed their roster completely emphasizing speed and defense. The Red Sox went out and signed the best free agent defenders at CF, SS and 3B. That isn't a coincidence.
Curt: You have Boston winning the East? I don't. How about Seattle? It’s good to know who is good but what is it worth?
Me: Do you think teams like Seattle and Boston have been able take advantage with these statistics, and could they have done this with pure scouting?
Curt: No way before, a slow guy that gets to zero balls but makes routine plays look like great plays is way devalued now.
Tom: Turning defensive value into a runs number is difficult. They say defense is about half as important as hitting. The best defender will never be more valuable as the best hitter at the position.
Tom: But a market exists where you can "buy" defensive runs cheaper than you can "buy" batting runs. You can do it somewhat with pure scouting, but you have problems quantifying the addition to the team. You may sign a good defender, but without their run value metrics, you don't know how much help/harm you've actually done to the roster.
Curt: Very true. A's have not done anything for a while though. Seattle got better, easy to do when the worst though.
Me: I think the important aspect the public numbers are missing is the speed of the balls in play, more exactly, how hard they are hit. Do you think teams have these numbers in their metrics already? I know they are on the way for public numbers.
Tom: The teams that have invested in their internal stats/scouting departments most assuredly do. Things like Dewan's +/- system attempt to account for speed of balls in play, but those are entirely up to the person scoring the game for Dewan. So there is some subjectivity built into them.
Curt: A BIP (“ball in play”) is a BIP, over 162 games, it evens out, most of the time.
Me: It should be interesting to watch as these defensive metrics become more mainstream and advance over the next few years. It wasn't too long ago that no one spoke of OPS and now it's everyone's go-to stat for offensive production.
Me: Curt mentioned that he doesn't have Boston winning the East, who are your guys division winners and wild cards?
Curt: In AL, Yanks, Twinkies, Angels, BSox as WC. I don't see how the Yanks can lose. The demise of the Angels is overrated, like every year. Nathan is just a closer (referring to the Twins closer Joe Nathan, who was injured for the season in spring training), they have a good pen.
Me: Still sticking by the Angels huh? Seems like the AL West and Central are wide open.
Curt: Until proven otherwise. No confidence in Minny really, toughest call.
Me: I like the Yanks as well, Sox for the Wild Card. I'm going with the White Sox in the Central with the best starting staff and Texas out West.
Curt: White Sox offense should be pretty bad. Asking Quentin to be healthy let alone produce is a pretty tall task IMO.
Me: I think the Rangers are going to score a ton of runs like usual and finally have enough pitching to put them over the top of a weak division.
Curt: Rangers have to be one of the most volatile teams out there.
Me: Yea, White Sox offense leaves something to be desired, but every team has holes in the Central. I think Beckham could be a difference maker for them, and I guess I would be banking on Carlos Quentin's health, probably not a good idea, but I will give it a try.
Tom: Nolan Ryan (Rangers Team President) is on record expecting 92 wins out of his team. Anything less and the firing starts with Ron Washington. They've got a solid roster in Texas, but playing in that park just keeps everyone in the games.
Curt: White Sox will need Rios to be a real baseball player. CJ Wilson (Rangers’ former closer) as a starter, I’ll be the most surprised guy ever if that works.
Tom: I'm not impressed with the White Sox. That central is wide open.
Me: Tom, did you post your predictions in the AL, I don't think they showed up?
Tom: BoSox 97 wins, Twins 89 wins, Rangers 90 wins, Yanks 94 wins, Rays 91 wins on the outside looking in.
Me: Anyone like Seattle's chances? What about Detroit? And possibly the Rays making noise in the East?
Curt: Rays and Boston will be close I think. I think Seattle overachieved last year. Not enough even with Cliff Lee on the staff.
Tom: Detroit needs to figure out their arms. They're going to allow too many runs I think.
Me: King Felix, Lee and possibly Bedard with that defense, I can see why the Mariners are all the "experts" popular pick. I'm not sure they can score enough runs though. Who is going to hit the ball out of the ballpark for the M's?
Tom: Detroit has a ton of volatility in their rotation. Dontrelle Willis, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Jeremy Bonderman all behind Verlander.
Curt: Willis is terrible, starting him could cost them right off the bat.
Tom: All of those guys could go 5.0+ ERA without a problem.
Tom: Seattle did lose Russell Branyan, their only source of power on the team.
Curt: I like Porcello better than the rest of those guys. Not sure on the M's. They need someone to hit. Not give Griffey his farewell tour.
Tom: They've added the Monopoly Man (Milton Bradley), but who knows with that guy.
Curt: Not signing Branyan was dumb.
Tom: Cliff Lee is going to start the season on the DL as well. Any team with Ian Snell as their Opening Day #2 starter is not going to win many games.
Curt: Yea that won't help either. Some guy "Ian Smell" posts on the rumor site all the time. Funny.
Me: So the consensus is Yanks, Red Sox, Twins and Rangers, with a vote for the White Sox and Angels.
Me: Before we flip gears to the NL, the Orioles have assembled a lot of young talent, including everyone in Pittsburgh's favorite catcher, Matt Wieters. What do you think about their prospects over the next few years?
Curt: Still wrong division at the wrong time. I don't see enough coming through at the same time for them.
Tom: They have some good young talent, but it still isn't close to the Rays young talent. And the Rays will struggle to make the Playoffs.
Curt: Orioles better than Toronto this year? I don't think so, myself.
Tom: 10 wins better than Toronto.
Me: I would say yes. Though Toronto still has a lot of young arms. I think they will be a factor again sooner than later.
Tom: Toronto will finish last in the AL, write it down.
Me: Adam Jones, Wieters, Nate Reimold, Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, all coming through at the same time. O's owner has proven he will spend, I think they could become a real factor in the next 3-4 years. Rays might not spend enough to really keep up. They will probably lose Crawford following this year.
Tom: He (O’s owner Peter Angelos) couldn't get Teixeira to come home. Crawford is overrated as a LF.
Me: He couldn't get Tex to come home, but was willing to spend the money. Maybe he comes back, well a player of his caliber comes, when they are closer to contending.
Me: Brandon Jennings, is that name correct, is supposed to be the next stud Rays youngster to take over for Crawford correct?
Tom: Rays have seven of the top 100 prospects in baseball and 5 in the top 40. And Desmond Jennings is his name.
Curt: Des Jennings, yes. Looks like Brignac is going north as a utility guy finally. Not very far north I suppose.
Me: Haha yea, seeing as the Rays’ spring training is at their home facility. No fun in that. Reid Brignac is a shortstop prospect, btw, once rumored in some deals with the Pirates.
Tom: Jason Bartlett turned into a real shortstop. That really killed Brignac's career to-date.
Curt: These teams would be better off dealing those guys than having them rot in AAA. See what Wood (referring to Brandon Wood, longtime prospect for the Angels expected to start at third base) does this year finally.
Me: Let's switch gears now and go to the NL. How do you guys see the division winners and wildcard shaking out? I think we are unanimous on the Cards in the Central.
Tom: Cards might have the strongest stranglehold over their division in all of baseball. Give me the Phillies and Rockies, with the Braves taking the WC.
Curt: Rocks, Phills, Cards, then Bravos.
Tom: I got mine in first Curt!
Curt: Braves pulling out all the stops this year looks like. WC won't be from the central we can agree on that.
Tom: This is Bobby Cox's final season. They're going to do whatever they can to win games, as long as it fits with Liberty Media's bottom line.
Curt: I hate the Dodgers, it won't be them anyways.
Me: I think I might stick with the Dodgers in the West. Agree with you guys on the Phils and Braves for East and Wildcard.
Curt: I think SF can be decent and grab it perhaps.
Tom: They're all "decent" out in the west. The D'Backs again could surprise, for the 3rd year in a row. And San Fran has Lincecum.
Me: Curt was referring to the Braves starting sensational outfield prospect Jason Heyward in right field to start the year. He is the #1 or #2 prospect in baseball along with Stephen Strasburg. What do you guys make of Heyward?
Tom: I'll feel bad for the kid if people expect him to be Matt Holliday out of the gate. Just making the 25-man roster as a 20-year old position player is amazing in itself. The list of comparables for Heyward is tiny, and probably half of them are in the HOF with Miggy en route.
Me: Do you expect Justin Upton's rookie year when he struggled or Evan Longoria's when he was a star?
Tom: Evan Longoria was 22 and he wasn't “that” great of a hitter his rookie season. Heyward will out produce him if I had to wager on it. “That” in the historical context, not in the year to year context.
Curt: I would look for Justin Upton's 2008 as best case scenerio.
Tom: There are 17 seasons of 20 year old corner outfielders in baseball, Rickey Henderson, Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, and Mel Ott are on the list. Justin Upton is as well. Ty Cobb is also on the list. That's 5 inner-circle baseball HOF out of 17. Miggy (Miguel Cabrera) is on his way and Justin Upton is off to the right start as well.
Me: Wow, some big company to keep for Heyward.
Tom: The threshold for Jason Heyward is simply amazing. But none of those guys hit 50 HR as a rookie, so we have to keep our expectations tempered.
This seems like a great spot for a break. Tom, Curt and The People’s Quarterback will be back tomorrow with our AL and NL award winners, our World Series predictions and some fantasy baseball talk!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Elite Eight Recaps Part Two
Two familiar faces are heading back to the Final Four as Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans and Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils both advanced on Sunday. It would be pretty safe to say that Coach K’s and Coach Izzo’s experience had just a little to do with their teams advancing to their 11th and 6th Final Four, respectively, when both games were decided in the last few minutes (or seconds in MSU’s case). Let’s take a quick look at final two games of the Elite Eight.
Michigan State 70 – Tennessee 69
In what was a great game from start to finish, it is a shame that the game had to be decided on the foul line (don’t get me wrong, that was the right call). Raymar Morgan’s foul shot with under 2 seconds to play sent Michigan State back to the Final Four for the second year in a row and sixth appearance in the last twelve years, more than any other team over that stretch. Both teams came out on fire, with Tennessee starting the game six for six from three point range and Michigan State matching almost every point. The game had a classic feel to it right from the start. You could tell how much this game meant to each team, especially the upperclassmen as seniors Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince led the way for the Volunteers while senior Raymar Morgan and junior Durrell Summers paced the Spartans. Both teams deserved to win but in the end it was a four-year starter in Raymar Morgan nailing the free throw to send his Spartans to the Final Four in what might have been Tom Izzo’s best coaching performance of his six Final Fours.
Duke 78 – Baylor 71
I told my father before the game that I thought Duke might just have one extra weapon than Baylor and that ended up being exactly the case. With Jon Scheyer struggling from the field in the first half and Kyle Singler really struggling (0-10 from the field, 5 points!), it was Nolan Smith who rose to the occasion for the Blue Devils, sending Mike Krzyzewski to his eleventh Final Four. Smith scored 29 points, none bigger than his four points in four seconds with Baylor leading 61-60 with three and half minutes to go. Smith was fouled, made the first of two free throws, missed the second but Lance Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound and immediately kicked it back to Smith who nailed a three-pointer. Just like that, a one-point Baylor lead turned into a three-point Duke advantage and the tide had turned for good. Duke went on a 12-1 run over the next two and a half minutes before Baylor realized what had even happened. The Bears got fine efforts from LaceDarius Dunn, Tweety Carter, Quincy Acy and Ekpe Udoh, but none were enough to offset Duke’s big three, or in this instance big two. Scheyer got hot in the second half and finished with 20 points, leaving the big three right around their season average with 54 points combined, just a tad more firepower than Baylor could offer.
The Final Four is set. Butler will take on Michigan State in the battle of the unexpected while Duke will take on West Virginia in what many will be calling the de facto National Championship. That is probably a bit of an overstatement with Butler playing in its hometown and Michigan State having Izzo on its sideline, but I know that the game I am most looking forward to this weekend will be the Mountaineers and Blue Devils squaring off. Check back Friday as I breakdown the Final Four games and what each team will need to do to win.
Michigan State 70 – Tennessee 69
In what was a great game from start to finish, it is a shame that the game had to be decided on the foul line (don’t get me wrong, that was the right call). Raymar Morgan’s foul shot with under 2 seconds to play sent Michigan State back to the Final Four for the second year in a row and sixth appearance in the last twelve years, more than any other team over that stretch. Both teams came out on fire, with Tennessee starting the game six for six from three point range and Michigan State matching almost every point. The game had a classic feel to it right from the start. You could tell how much this game meant to each team, especially the upperclassmen as seniors Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince led the way for the Volunteers while senior Raymar Morgan and junior Durrell Summers paced the Spartans. Both teams deserved to win but in the end it was a four-year starter in Raymar Morgan nailing the free throw to send his Spartans to the Final Four in what might have been Tom Izzo’s best coaching performance of his six Final Fours.
Duke 78 – Baylor 71
I told my father before the game that I thought Duke might just have one extra weapon than Baylor and that ended up being exactly the case. With Jon Scheyer struggling from the field in the first half and Kyle Singler really struggling (0-10 from the field, 5 points!), it was Nolan Smith who rose to the occasion for the Blue Devils, sending Mike Krzyzewski to his eleventh Final Four. Smith scored 29 points, none bigger than his four points in four seconds with Baylor leading 61-60 with three and half minutes to go. Smith was fouled, made the first of two free throws, missed the second but Lance Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound and immediately kicked it back to Smith who nailed a three-pointer. Just like that, a one-point Baylor lead turned into a three-point Duke advantage and the tide had turned for good. Duke went on a 12-1 run over the next two and a half minutes before Baylor realized what had even happened. The Bears got fine efforts from LaceDarius Dunn, Tweety Carter, Quincy Acy and Ekpe Udoh, but none were enough to offset Duke’s big three, or in this instance big two. Scheyer got hot in the second half and finished with 20 points, leaving the big three right around their season average with 54 points combined, just a tad more firepower than Baylor could offer.
The Final Four is set. Butler will take on Michigan State in the battle of the unexpected while Duke will take on West Virginia in what many will be calling the de facto National Championship. That is probably a bit of an overstatement with Butler playing in its hometown and Michigan State having Izzo on its sideline, but I know that the game I am most looking forward to this weekend will be the Mountaineers and Blue Devils squaring off. Check back Friday as I breakdown the Final Four games and what each team will need to do to win.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Elite Eight Recap
The first two entrants to the 2010 Final Four were decided yesterday as Butler and West Virginia used defense to punch their ticket to Indianapolis. Kansas State and Kentucky tried their best to give us a great finish, but in the end the Bulldogs and Mountaineers were too much. Here is my quick take on the two games yesterday.
Butler 63 – Kansas State 56
Kansas State looked worn out in the beginning, found some adrenaline to make a second half run and actually take a one point lead at one point, and then looked worn out in the end again, allowing Butler to pull away for good. Butler, who has been a great defensive team all season, smothered the Kansas State shooters in the first half and built a seven point lead at halftime. Pullen and Clemente, the Wildcat guards who I thought would be the difference in this one, came out sluggish and only had two points combined at halftime. Kansas State, like I have to remind you, was coming off a double overtime victory just over 40 hours before where they used a ton of energy to hold off Xavier. Butler, meanwhile, made it difficult throughout on the dynamic K-State backcourt as Pullen and Clemente finished a combined 11-30 from the field. On the offensive end, Butler got contributions from a number of players, but it was their leading scorers Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack who paced the Bulldogs, combining for 38 points and scoring in a multitude of ways. Butler will go back home to Indianapolis for their first Final Four appearance in school history. The Bulldogs knocked off both the number one and number two seeds in the West region and deserve every bit of the accolades they will receive back home.
West Virginia 73 – Kentucky 66
I probably do not need to say too much for this game as I am sure everyone watched for themselves. This game was being built up from the day the brackets were announced. While the game itself was pretty good, I do not think it lived up to the hype it was receiving. Kentucky, the team with the most talent, played a poor game and saw its Achilles heel, three-point shooting, really kill them when it mattered most. Kentucky missed their first 20 (that’s amazing just to type) three pointers of the game, and finished 4-32 from deep. Everyone questioned this aspect of the Kentucky game coming in and it sure proved to be true in this one. WVU, meanwhile, lived on the three pointer as the Mountaineers shot 10-23 for the game from deep. More importantly, however, was the Mountaineers eight first half three pointers when the team failed to make a single two point basket yet held a two-point halftime lead. Individually, the hero for the Mountaineers was Joe Mazzulla, finally 100% healthy after offseason shoulder surgery. Mazzulla scored a season high 17 points after coming in averaging less than 3 points per game. Bob Huggins will take his alma mater back to the Final Four for the first time since 1959, and it will be Huggins’ first Final Four trip since 1992 with Cincinnati.
Well I was a solid 0 for 2 on my predictions yesterday and it was due to one key factor in each game. My total underestimation of Kansas State’s fatigue and the inability to see Kentucky shooting the ball that poorly left me eating my words. Hopefully, I can make up for that today.
I look for Tennessee to ride their momentum off a great win against Ohio State and just be a little too much for a depleted Michigan State team. I hate going against Tom Izzo in the tournament, but there is something about this Tennessee team that has grown on me.
I am also going with Duke. Though I picked Baylor at the outset of the tournament to make the Final Four, I am switching gears and going with the Blue Devils. I think the Duke experience, combined with just a tad more offensive firepower than Baylor, will be the difference in this one.
Butler 63 – Kansas State 56
Kansas State looked worn out in the beginning, found some adrenaline to make a second half run and actually take a one point lead at one point, and then looked worn out in the end again, allowing Butler to pull away for good. Butler, who has been a great defensive team all season, smothered the Kansas State shooters in the first half and built a seven point lead at halftime. Pullen and Clemente, the Wildcat guards who I thought would be the difference in this one, came out sluggish and only had two points combined at halftime. Kansas State, like I have to remind you, was coming off a double overtime victory just over 40 hours before where they used a ton of energy to hold off Xavier. Butler, meanwhile, made it difficult throughout on the dynamic K-State backcourt as Pullen and Clemente finished a combined 11-30 from the field. On the offensive end, Butler got contributions from a number of players, but it was their leading scorers Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack who paced the Bulldogs, combining for 38 points and scoring in a multitude of ways. Butler will go back home to Indianapolis for their first Final Four appearance in school history. The Bulldogs knocked off both the number one and number two seeds in the West region and deserve every bit of the accolades they will receive back home.
West Virginia 73 – Kentucky 66
I probably do not need to say too much for this game as I am sure everyone watched for themselves. This game was being built up from the day the brackets were announced. While the game itself was pretty good, I do not think it lived up to the hype it was receiving. Kentucky, the team with the most talent, played a poor game and saw its Achilles heel, three-point shooting, really kill them when it mattered most. Kentucky missed their first 20 (that’s amazing just to type) three pointers of the game, and finished 4-32 from deep. Everyone questioned this aspect of the Kentucky game coming in and it sure proved to be true in this one. WVU, meanwhile, lived on the three pointer as the Mountaineers shot 10-23 for the game from deep. More importantly, however, was the Mountaineers eight first half three pointers when the team failed to make a single two point basket yet held a two-point halftime lead. Individually, the hero for the Mountaineers was Joe Mazzulla, finally 100% healthy after offseason shoulder surgery. Mazzulla scored a season high 17 points after coming in averaging less than 3 points per game. Bob Huggins will take his alma mater back to the Final Four for the first time since 1959, and it will be Huggins’ first Final Four trip since 1992 with Cincinnati.
Well I was a solid 0 for 2 on my predictions yesterday and it was due to one key factor in each game. My total underestimation of Kansas State’s fatigue and the inability to see Kentucky shooting the ball that poorly left me eating my words. Hopefully, I can make up for that today.
I look for Tennessee to ride their momentum off a great win against Ohio State and just be a little too much for a depleted Michigan State team. I hate going against Tom Izzo in the tournament, but there is something about this Tennessee team that has grown on me.
I am also going with Duke. Though I picked Baylor at the outset of the tournament to make the Final Four, I am switching gears and going with the Blue Devils. I think the Duke experience, combined with just a tad more offensive firepower than Baylor, will be the difference in this one.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sweet Sixteen Day Two
Day two of the Sweet Sixteen did not have the signature game like Xavier and Kansas State, but we saw some good basketball, big plays, and another top seed packing their bags. Here is a quick look back at the four games from Friday night and a quick look forward to the first two Elite Eight games this evening.
Tennessee 76 – Ohio State 73
The best game of the day was first and was the most surprising to me of any of the Sweet Sixteen games. I have been on the Buckeye bandwagon from early in the year and thought they would cruise past Tennessee and the Michigan State-Northern Iowa winner into the Final Four. That did not happen, however, and the Buckeyes have no one to blame but themselves. Ohio St. gave up way too many easy baskets to the Volunteers, allowing Tennessee to shoot 53% from two point range with many of those being dunks and lay-ups. I don’t want to minimize Evan Turner’s greatness, but playing out of position at point guard he had too many turnovers and forced a few too many tough shots, finishing with six turnovers and shooting only 10-23 from the floor. Turner was not helped much by Jon Diebler, who finished with three points on 1-8 shooting after scoring 43 in the Buckeyes’ first two tournament games. This is not to take anything away from Tennessee, who got a great game from Wayne Chism (22 points and 11 rebounds) and very good contributions from a number of players, but this game was about Ohio State losing it and not Tennessee winning it to me. Even the Buckeyes last possession, trailing by three, was executed poorly. Turner, who looked like he had a chance for two clean looks, took too much time and could not get off a good shot on either attempt.
Baylor 72 – St. Mary’s 49
This game was over in a hurry. Baylor jumped out to an early 19-7 lead and never looked back, extending the lead to 29 points by halftime. Baylor was simply too athletic for the Gaels, forcing previous tournament hero Omar Samhan into a 7-17 shooting night and pushing the pace to an uncomfortable level for St. Mary’s. Baylor looks to be hitting their stride at the right time and should make for a great match-up with Duke for a trip to the Final Four. Besides, who doesn’t love a team with guys named Tweety and LaceDarius.
Michigan State 59 – Northern Iowa 52
Northern Iowa put up a great fight for most of this game, even leading by seven at halftime. Michigan State’s size and athleticism was too much in the end, however, and it was Kalin Lucas’ replacement, Korie Lucious, who played hero down the stretch. Tom Izzo is doing it again, this time with an injury-ridden roster, proving to quite possibly be the best tournament coach in recent history. This game was a well-played, defensive battle throughout with both teams limiting turnovers and keeping the opposition off of the offensive glass. The difference in the game became the Spartans ability to hit a few key shots down the stretch, including Lucious’ spinning, one-foot fade-away that probably sealed the deal for Michigan State.
Duke 70 – Purdue 57
This was a battle of offensive ineptitude for much of the first half, but in the end Duke just had too many weapons for the Robbie Hummel-less Boilermakers. The big three for Duke, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and John Scheyer, combined for 57 of the Blue Devils’ 70 points and were too much for the Purdue defense to handle. E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson did everything they could to try and keep Purdue in the game, combining for 41 points, but it was obvious that the Boilermakers were one weapon short in this one. Hummel’s absence was missed on the boards as well, with Duke dominating on the glass to a tune of 45-22 and 15-4 on the offensive glass. Matt Painter did a great job getting this Purdue team to the Sweet Sixteen and putting up a valiant fight in this one, but when you lose your 2nd leading scorer and rebounder, eventually you are going to meet your match.
Now a quick look at Saturday’s Elite Eight contests:
Butler vs. Kansas State – Butler has gotten here on the strength of its defense and that has been K-State’s calling card all year long. I am expecting a hard-fought, grind-it-out, who can make the most plays in the end kind of game. I think the difference in this one could be the Kansas State guards, Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen, who have been playing as good or better than any backcourt in the tournament so far.
West Virginia vs. Kentucky – This is the game going all the way back to Selection Sunday that everyone has been pointing to as what could be the game of the tournament. These teams are big, athletic, skilled and play defense as well as anyone in the country. This game will probably come down to West Virginia’s ability to put the ball in the hole. No matter how great WVU’s defense is, Kentucky will find ways with all that talent to put the ball in the hoop. The question will be whether the Mountaineers can score enough to limit the big runs Kentucky has been putting on everyone else. I think this will be a close game for the most part, but in the end one big run by Kentucky will be the difference.
Tennessee 76 – Ohio State 73
The best game of the day was first and was the most surprising to me of any of the Sweet Sixteen games. I have been on the Buckeye bandwagon from early in the year and thought they would cruise past Tennessee and the Michigan State-Northern Iowa winner into the Final Four. That did not happen, however, and the Buckeyes have no one to blame but themselves. Ohio St. gave up way too many easy baskets to the Volunteers, allowing Tennessee to shoot 53% from two point range with many of those being dunks and lay-ups. I don’t want to minimize Evan Turner’s greatness, but playing out of position at point guard he had too many turnovers and forced a few too many tough shots, finishing with six turnovers and shooting only 10-23 from the floor. Turner was not helped much by Jon Diebler, who finished with three points on 1-8 shooting after scoring 43 in the Buckeyes’ first two tournament games. This is not to take anything away from Tennessee, who got a great game from Wayne Chism (22 points and 11 rebounds) and very good contributions from a number of players, but this game was about Ohio State losing it and not Tennessee winning it to me. Even the Buckeyes last possession, trailing by three, was executed poorly. Turner, who looked like he had a chance for two clean looks, took too much time and could not get off a good shot on either attempt.
Baylor 72 – St. Mary’s 49
This game was over in a hurry. Baylor jumped out to an early 19-7 lead and never looked back, extending the lead to 29 points by halftime. Baylor was simply too athletic for the Gaels, forcing previous tournament hero Omar Samhan into a 7-17 shooting night and pushing the pace to an uncomfortable level for St. Mary’s. Baylor looks to be hitting their stride at the right time and should make for a great match-up with Duke for a trip to the Final Four. Besides, who doesn’t love a team with guys named Tweety and LaceDarius.
Michigan State 59 – Northern Iowa 52
Northern Iowa put up a great fight for most of this game, even leading by seven at halftime. Michigan State’s size and athleticism was too much in the end, however, and it was Kalin Lucas’ replacement, Korie Lucious, who played hero down the stretch. Tom Izzo is doing it again, this time with an injury-ridden roster, proving to quite possibly be the best tournament coach in recent history. This game was a well-played, defensive battle throughout with both teams limiting turnovers and keeping the opposition off of the offensive glass. The difference in the game became the Spartans ability to hit a few key shots down the stretch, including Lucious’ spinning, one-foot fade-away that probably sealed the deal for Michigan State.
Duke 70 – Purdue 57
This was a battle of offensive ineptitude for much of the first half, but in the end Duke just had too many weapons for the Robbie Hummel-less Boilermakers. The big three for Duke, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and John Scheyer, combined for 57 of the Blue Devils’ 70 points and were too much for the Purdue defense to handle. E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson did everything they could to try and keep Purdue in the game, combining for 41 points, but it was obvious that the Boilermakers were one weapon short in this one. Hummel’s absence was missed on the boards as well, with Duke dominating on the glass to a tune of 45-22 and 15-4 on the offensive glass. Matt Painter did a great job getting this Purdue team to the Sweet Sixteen and putting up a valiant fight in this one, but when you lose your 2nd leading scorer and rebounder, eventually you are going to meet your match.
Now a quick look at Saturday’s Elite Eight contests:
Butler vs. Kansas State – Butler has gotten here on the strength of its defense and that has been K-State’s calling card all year long. I am expecting a hard-fought, grind-it-out, who can make the most plays in the end kind of game. I think the difference in this one could be the Kansas State guards, Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen, who have been playing as good or better than any backcourt in the tournament so far.
West Virginia vs. Kentucky – This is the game going all the way back to Selection Sunday that everyone has been pointing to as what could be the game of the tournament. These teams are big, athletic, skilled and play defense as well as anyone in the country. This game will probably come down to West Virginia’s ability to put the ball in the hole. No matter how great WVU’s defense is, Kentucky will find ways with all that talent to put the ball in the hoop. The question will be whether the Mountaineers can score enough to limit the big runs Kentucky has been putting on everyone else. I think this will be a close game for the most part, but in the end one big run by Kentucky will be the difference.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Big Weekend for Pens
While we are all caught up in March Madness and our ever-collapsing brackets, little attention has been paid to the Penguins and their lackluster performance of late. When I last wrote about the Penguins about a week and a half ago, they were off to a 5-1-1 start after the Olympic break and looking particularly strong to earn the number two seed in the Eastern Conference. Since then, the Pens have gone 1-2-2 and relinquished the division lead and the inside track on that coveted number two seed to the New Jersey Devils.
During this recent slump, the Penguins got manhandled again by New Jersey, lost to a terrible Carolina team in overtime, played one of their worst games of the year against Detroit and lost again in a shoot-out to Washington. The loss to the Devils was the Penguins sixth loss in six games, not a good sign were the teams to meet in the playoffs. Sidney Crosby has only 2 points in these last five games and only 1 goal in his last nine. Evgeni Malkin has missed four of the last five games with a foot injury and it now appears Sergei Gonchar is banged up as well. None of these are good signs for a team trying to build momentum heading into the playoffs. Remember last year at this time the Penguins were in the midst of an 18-3-3 finish to the regular season that propelled them into the playoffs and onto a Stanley Cup Championship.
The good news is that the Penguins have nine games remaining to kick it into full gear and get some momentum heading into the playoffs. Neither Malkin’s nor Gonchar’s injuries appear serious and both should be back in the line-up in the near future The Pens are currently tied with the Devils for the division lead, though the Devils have one game in hand and currently own all the tiebreakers. It is important for the Penguins to jump-start this push with a strong performance this weekend with home games against Philadelphia and Toronto. A good showing this weekend coupled with a tough back-to-back for New Jersey (at Montreal and at Philadelphia) and the Penguins will be right back in the driver’s seat for that number two seed and more importantly, back on track heading into the playoffs.
In between watching the Elite Eight games this weekend, I will definitely be checking out how Mario’s team is doing. This weekend could go a long way to determining how the Penguins fare in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.
During this recent slump, the Penguins got manhandled again by New Jersey, lost to a terrible Carolina team in overtime, played one of their worst games of the year against Detroit and lost again in a shoot-out to Washington. The loss to the Devils was the Penguins sixth loss in six games, not a good sign were the teams to meet in the playoffs. Sidney Crosby has only 2 points in these last five games and only 1 goal in his last nine. Evgeni Malkin has missed four of the last five games with a foot injury and it now appears Sergei Gonchar is banged up as well. None of these are good signs for a team trying to build momentum heading into the playoffs. Remember last year at this time the Penguins were in the midst of an 18-3-3 finish to the regular season that propelled them into the playoffs and onto a Stanley Cup Championship.
The good news is that the Penguins have nine games remaining to kick it into full gear and get some momentum heading into the playoffs. Neither Malkin’s nor Gonchar’s injuries appear serious and both should be back in the line-up in the near future The Pens are currently tied with the Devils for the division lead, though the Devils have one game in hand and currently own all the tiebreakers. It is important for the Penguins to jump-start this push with a strong performance this weekend with home games against Philadelphia and Toronto. A good showing this weekend coupled with a tough back-to-back for New Jersey (at Montreal and at Philadelphia) and the Penguins will be right back in the driver’s seat for that number two seed and more importantly, back on track heading into the playoffs.
In between watching the Elite Eight games this weekend, I will definitely be checking out how Mario’s team is doing. This weekend could go a long way to determining how the Penguins fare in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.
Sweet Sixteen Day One Breakdown
The first day of the Sweet Sixteen started just as we left off the first weekend, with a ton of excitement. We saw an upset, a fantastic finish, and two of the favorites showing their might. Here is a short breakdown and my thoughts from the four games last night. Let’s hope Friday night’s action is as good as Thursday’s.
Butler 63 – Syracuse 59
Butler had basically four days to prepare for the Syracuse zone and it showed. Butler remained patient on offense, even when Syracuse made a charge in the second half to take a 54-50 lead with under four minutes to go. Brad Stephens, Butler’s head coach and only 33 years old, did a great job preparing his team for what Syracuse was going to show them and allowed the Bulldogs to overcome a 6-24 shooting performance from three-point range. Butler’s patience paid off as it hit two of those six threes surrounding two layups in the final three minutes to turn a four point deficit into a six point lead and the upset was in the works. Butler’s defense was also fantastic, and it helped that Syracuse center Arinze Onuaku was not able to play after reports early in the week speculated he might be in the line-up. The Bulldogs forced 18 Syracuse turnovers and the Orange looked out of sync all night. Butler was many people’s preseason surprise pick to make a run at the Final Four. After cooling on them in the regular season, I am sure the bandwagon just picked up a ton of passengers once again.
West Virginia 69 – Washington 56
I said to friend before this game when we were talking about wagering, if gambling were legal of course, that this is a great match-up for West Virginia as they have three different guys who can match-up with Washington’s best player Quincy Pondexter and they should have a field day on the offensive glass. Sure enough, the Mountaineers held Pondexter to 7 points, 0 in the first half, and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds. The loss of Truck Bryant was not a factor last night but could become one against Kentucky if West Virginia cannot limit its turnovers, committing 23 against the Huskies. WVU has the size and athletes to compete with Kentucky, but they will have to shoot it better as well. The Mountaineers shot only 40% from the field and 27% from three, which will not get it done against John Wall and company. One side note from this game was the terrible officiating. I praised the refs for doing a great job in the first two rounds, but I thought the officiating in this one was terrible on both sides.
Kentucky 62 – Cornell 45
Kentucky showed why they are the favorite to win the whole thing in the first half of this game, overwhelming Cornell with their size and speed. With the fantastic Kansas State-Xavier game going on at the same time, my focus was not on this second half, but it looked like Kentucky stopped pounding the ball inside and started to settle for jump shots. The Wildcats shot only 2-16 from three point range which is sure to be the talk heading into what could be the best Elite Eight match-up of the bunch against West Virginia. Cornell was able to cut the lead to six at one point in the second half, but Kentucky went right back inside and put the Big Red away for good. Kentucky’s size and athleticism was just too much for Cornell, who shot only 24% (5-21) from three after looking like they could not miss in their first two games.
Kansas State 101 – Xavier 96 2OT
The best game of the tournament so far saw incredible performances from a number of players from both teams and had the added bonus of Gus Johnson on the play-by-bay. Just a fantastic game that words could not do justice. Xavier guards Jordan Crawford and Terrell Holloway combined for 58 points and at times looked like they were playing two-on-five. It did not stop them, however, from hitting big shot, after big shot, after big shot. Crawford’s three to send the game into the second overtime was basically from half court, and there was no doubt the ball was going in the second it left his hand. Crawford and Holloway’s performance was for not, however, as Kansas State was finally able to prevail after seemingly having the game won about three or four different times (and if anyone had money on this game, what a roller coaster ride that was). The Wildcat guards, Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen, nearly matched the Musketeer guards scoring 53 points of their own. It was the KSU defense and inside presence that was the ultimate difference in the game, however, as the Wildcats front court outscored Xavier’s 45-19 and threw in 11 blocks for good measure. I have to wonder if this game will take something out of Kansas State as they prepare for a very stingy Butler team with a Final Four berth on the line.
The first four games of the Sweet Sixteen are in the books, and what a fantastic four games they were. I will be back Saturday morning to breakdown the four games Friday night. We can only hope for the same suspense we were treated too on Thursday!
Butler 63 – Syracuse 59
Butler had basically four days to prepare for the Syracuse zone and it showed. Butler remained patient on offense, even when Syracuse made a charge in the second half to take a 54-50 lead with under four minutes to go. Brad Stephens, Butler’s head coach and only 33 years old, did a great job preparing his team for what Syracuse was going to show them and allowed the Bulldogs to overcome a 6-24 shooting performance from three-point range. Butler’s patience paid off as it hit two of those six threes surrounding two layups in the final three minutes to turn a four point deficit into a six point lead and the upset was in the works. Butler’s defense was also fantastic, and it helped that Syracuse center Arinze Onuaku was not able to play after reports early in the week speculated he might be in the line-up. The Bulldogs forced 18 Syracuse turnovers and the Orange looked out of sync all night. Butler was many people’s preseason surprise pick to make a run at the Final Four. After cooling on them in the regular season, I am sure the bandwagon just picked up a ton of passengers once again.
West Virginia 69 – Washington 56
I said to friend before this game when we were talking about wagering, if gambling were legal of course, that this is a great match-up for West Virginia as they have three different guys who can match-up with Washington’s best player Quincy Pondexter and they should have a field day on the offensive glass. Sure enough, the Mountaineers held Pondexter to 7 points, 0 in the first half, and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds. The loss of Truck Bryant was not a factor last night but could become one against Kentucky if West Virginia cannot limit its turnovers, committing 23 against the Huskies. WVU has the size and athletes to compete with Kentucky, but they will have to shoot it better as well. The Mountaineers shot only 40% from the field and 27% from three, which will not get it done against John Wall and company. One side note from this game was the terrible officiating. I praised the refs for doing a great job in the first two rounds, but I thought the officiating in this one was terrible on both sides.
Kentucky 62 – Cornell 45
Kentucky showed why they are the favorite to win the whole thing in the first half of this game, overwhelming Cornell with their size and speed. With the fantastic Kansas State-Xavier game going on at the same time, my focus was not on this second half, but it looked like Kentucky stopped pounding the ball inside and started to settle for jump shots. The Wildcats shot only 2-16 from three point range which is sure to be the talk heading into what could be the best Elite Eight match-up of the bunch against West Virginia. Cornell was able to cut the lead to six at one point in the second half, but Kentucky went right back inside and put the Big Red away for good. Kentucky’s size and athleticism was just too much for Cornell, who shot only 24% (5-21) from three after looking like they could not miss in their first two games.
Kansas State 101 – Xavier 96 2OT
The best game of the tournament so far saw incredible performances from a number of players from both teams and had the added bonus of Gus Johnson on the play-by-bay. Just a fantastic game that words could not do justice. Xavier guards Jordan Crawford and Terrell Holloway combined for 58 points and at times looked like they were playing two-on-five. It did not stop them, however, from hitting big shot, after big shot, after big shot. Crawford’s three to send the game into the second overtime was basically from half court, and there was no doubt the ball was going in the second it left his hand. Crawford and Holloway’s performance was for not, however, as Kansas State was finally able to prevail after seemingly having the game won about three or four different times (and if anyone had money on this game, what a roller coaster ride that was). The Wildcat guards, Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen, nearly matched the Musketeer guards scoring 53 points of their own. It was the KSU defense and inside presence that was the ultimate difference in the game, however, as the Wildcats front court outscored Xavier’s 45-19 and threw in 11 blocks for good measure. I have to wonder if this game will take something out of Kansas State as they prepare for a very stingy Butler team with a Final Four berth on the line.
The first four games of the Sweet Sixteen are in the books, and what a fantastic four games they were. I will be back Saturday morning to breakdown the four games Friday night. We can only hope for the same suspense we were treated too on Thursday!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
All Things NCAA Tournament!
The NCAA Tournament, along with the Super Bowl, is probably one of the two most anticipated sporting events of the year. There is a reason the stock market slows, thousands call in sick and we get to read all of the dollar figures the tournament supposedly costs our employers in lost work. I say garbage to that nonsense, but that is an argument for another day. If we cannot enjoy the NCAA Tournament than what can we enjoy? The opening weekend of the 2010 NCAA Tournament did not disappoint as it was one of the most exciting opening four days in some time. Kansas’ loss to Northern Iowa Saturday night highlighted the madness in “March Madness” and reminded us all of why we love this time of year.
If you missed any of my previous coverage, check it out and let me know what you think. You can see my Selection Sunday piece here and my original bracket selections here. I ran a running diary of all the action on Thursday here and a recap of day one and day two. Finally, check out my piece on what appeared to be a replay of so many of Pitt’s early exits from the tournament here.
Let's get on to all the different thoughts I had while watching the games this weekend and looking ahead to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight. Let’s call it the special edition, NCAA Smorgasbord!
• Have to start with what everyone is talking about and that is Northern Iowa’s shocking upset of Kansas in the 2nd round. In one pool I am in, all 137 entries had Kansas advancing to the Sweet Sixteen and 110 entries (over 80%) had Kansas in the Final Four. Nationally, somewhere between 40-45% of the country had Kansas as their National Champion, including our President. Needless to say, this loss was a shocker to everyone that is not a friend or family member of a Northern Iowa player and sent many brackets up in flames.
• What shocked me was Kansas’ total lack of urgency until it was too late. With seniors Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins coming back this season for the sole purpose of winning a championship, much the same way Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson did for North Carolina last year, one would think that Kansas would be ready everytime they stepped on the floor. That was not the case Saturday night as Kansas looked somewhat disinterested in what was going on until they found themselves in a desperate attempt to rally back in the closing minutes. When Ali Farokhmanesh drilled that three with 35 seconds left Aldrich, Collins and the Jayhawks’ dream of a National Championship went down with it.
• Speaking of that three pointer, at the time the kid shot it, I was thinking the same thing as most people, “no, no, no, yes!” As I thought about it more afterward, however, I believe it was a great shot and not a dumb play whatsoever. Had Farokhmanesh not shot it there, Kansas would have played defense for the entire possession and had a chance to get the ball back down only a point with ten seconds or more left in the game. The way Northern Iowa was struggling with Kansas’ pressure, there is no way they get off a shot as good as that one and quite possibly would have turned the ball over even sooner. Give credit to Ali Farokhmanesh for a wonderful and gutsy shot.
• Northern Iowa’s run just might not be over either. They will take on Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen without their star Kalin Lucas who ruptured his Achilles tendon in the Spartans’ dramatic win over Maryland on Sunday. Tom Izzo, quite possibly the best coach in the game, stopped himself from calling time out on the Spartans’ final possession allowing Corey Lucious to play hero and hit a three at the buzzer to advance Michigan State. I hate when coaches call timeouts in that situation, giving the defense a chance to set up and take away your best options. Maryland players were frantically trying to challenge shots, which allowed Lucious to get off a wide open look from the top of the key. It was another great win and coaching performance in Tom Izzo’s storied career.
• Ohio State fans have to be feeling pretty good today. The only thing that will stop them from advancing to the Final Four would be their own poor performance. Neither Tennessee nor the winner of Northern Iowa and Michigan State sans-Lucas can match the talent of the Buckeyes. If Evan Turner finds his shot that was missing in the first two games, I expect Ohio State to cruise into the Final Four this weekend.
• Before we go into the rest of the regions, there are two non-basketball related items I wanted to touch on. First, CBS’ coverage was absolutely terrible over the weekend in my opinion. There were too many instances where we were left watching blowouts while a close game was being played deep into the second half. Even worse, there were great games going on in the second half while we were stuck watching the first half of another game. And where was the split screen when two great games were near the end at the same time?!? In Pittsburgh, we hardly saw any of the Texas-Wake Forest, Michigan State-Maryland or BYU-Florida games. Three great games that came down to the wire or overtime and all we got to see was the final seconds of each. I understand that we can buy the package to watch all the games, but that is only available to DirecTV customers. I am a DirecTV customer, but I like to get out and about to watch the games with friends, family, whoever. Besides, most of America is not a DirecTV subscriber. We can only hope that ESPN takes over the next contract and we have the ability to watch the game we want to watch when we want to watch it.
• Second, I think that the officiating has been excellent so far. I do not think there has been one instance where a call or the officiating was the story of a game. The lane violation in the Michigan State-New Mexico State game is the only call I have even heard discussed, and the correct call was made in that instance. It is always a good thing when no one is talking about the officiating, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due, especially in such a thankless job.
• Kentucky looked like the team to beat destroying each of its first two opponents. The Wildcats also answered some of their shooting questions as John Wall and Eric Bledsoe went a combined 15-22 from three-point range. Yes, if Kentucky plays like that they will be nearly impossible to beat, but that is a big question when you are talking about a freshmen dominated team. The key for John Calipari’s boys will be consistency and maintaining this level of play for four more games.
• Kentucky’s hardest opponent might be in their own region and that is West Virginia. WVU has the length and athleticism to match up with Kentucky more-so than any team left in the tournament. The only real question is if the Mountaineers can score enough to keep pace with Kentucky. If the Mountaineers can get by a scrappy, talented Washington team, the Elite Eight match-up between Kentucky and West Virginia could be the best game of the tournament.
• I thought from the beginning that Duke had the easiest road to the Elite Eight and probably even the Final Four and nothing has happened that has changed my mind. The Dukies hammered Arkansas-Pine Bluff and California and should have no problem getting by a depleted Purdue squad before a match-up against Baylor or St. Mary’s with a Final Four berth on the line. Not exactly a murderer’s row of opponents for the Blue Devils.
• St. Mary’s has been one of the surprises of the tournament so far along with Cornell, Washington, and of course Northern Iowa. The Gaels will be in for a tough test, however, as Baylor has the size to match-up with Omar Samham down low (the leading scorer in the tournament so far with 61 points in two games) and the athleticism to challenge the St. Mary’s shooters on the outside. I think the slipper falls off for all four Cinderella teams this Thursday and Friday but if I had to rank their chances of winning, it would go Northern Iowa, then Washington, then St. Mary’s, and then Cornell facing a much too-athletic Kentucky team.
• Outside of Kentucky, Syracuse has been the next most impressive team in the tournament thus far. The Orange absolutely manhandled a talented Gonzaga team on Sunday on their way to the Sweet Sixteen. More importantly, Syracuse’s best player Wes Johnson looked healthy and explosive for the first time in at least a month, pouring in 31 points and 14 rebounds. Syracuse has two tough games ahead of them, though, with a very scrappy Butler team that just flat out wins basketball games and the winner of Xavier-Kansas State, two teams that are playing extremely well right now. The return of center Arinze Onuaku, who is expected to play this week after injuring his quadriceps in the Big East Tournament, would be a big boost for the ‘Cuse as they try to make their first Final Four since 2003.
• Lastly, as my original bracket like so many others has fallen apart, here are my predictions for this weekend’s action. Ohio State over Michigan State in the Midwest, Syracuse over Kansas State in the West, Kentucky over WVU in the East and Baylor over Duke in the South. That would give me three of my four original Final Four teams and an Ohio State team who I was very tempted to pick originally (and one who I picked to win the whole thing in some secondary brackets I filled out).
Enjoy the games this weekend everyone and let’s hope that the excitement from the first weekend carries into the rounds of sixteen and eight!
If you missed any of my previous coverage, check it out and let me know what you think. You can see my Selection Sunday piece here and my original bracket selections here. I ran a running diary of all the action on Thursday here and a recap of day one and day two. Finally, check out my piece on what appeared to be a replay of so many of Pitt’s early exits from the tournament here.
Let's get on to all the different thoughts I had while watching the games this weekend and looking ahead to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight. Let’s call it the special edition, NCAA Smorgasbord!
• Have to start with what everyone is talking about and that is Northern Iowa’s shocking upset of Kansas in the 2nd round. In one pool I am in, all 137 entries had Kansas advancing to the Sweet Sixteen and 110 entries (over 80%) had Kansas in the Final Four. Nationally, somewhere between 40-45% of the country had Kansas as their National Champion, including our President. Needless to say, this loss was a shocker to everyone that is not a friend or family member of a Northern Iowa player and sent many brackets up in flames.
• What shocked me was Kansas’ total lack of urgency until it was too late. With seniors Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins coming back this season for the sole purpose of winning a championship, much the same way Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson did for North Carolina last year, one would think that Kansas would be ready everytime they stepped on the floor. That was not the case Saturday night as Kansas looked somewhat disinterested in what was going on until they found themselves in a desperate attempt to rally back in the closing minutes. When Ali Farokhmanesh drilled that three with 35 seconds left Aldrich, Collins and the Jayhawks’ dream of a National Championship went down with it.
• Speaking of that three pointer, at the time the kid shot it, I was thinking the same thing as most people, “no, no, no, yes!” As I thought about it more afterward, however, I believe it was a great shot and not a dumb play whatsoever. Had Farokhmanesh not shot it there, Kansas would have played defense for the entire possession and had a chance to get the ball back down only a point with ten seconds or more left in the game. The way Northern Iowa was struggling with Kansas’ pressure, there is no way they get off a shot as good as that one and quite possibly would have turned the ball over even sooner. Give credit to Ali Farokhmanesh for a wonderful and gutsy shot.
• Northern Iowa’s run just might not be over either. They will take on Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen without their star Kalin Lucas who ruptured his Achilles tendon in the Spartans’ dramatic win over Maryland on Sunday. Tom Izzo, quite possibly the best coach in the game, stopped himself from calling time out on the Spartans’ final possession allowing Corey Lucious to play hero and hit a three at the buzzer to advance Michigan State. I hate when coaches call timeouts in that situation, giving the defense a chance to set up and take away your best options. Maryland players were frantically trying to challenge shots, which allowed Lucious to get off a wide open look from the top of the key. It was another great win and coaching performance in Tom Izzo’s storied career.
• Ohio State fans have to be feeling pretty good today. The only thing that will stop them from advancing to the Final Four would be their own poor performance. Neither Tennessee nor the winner of Northern Iowa and Michigan State sans-Lucas can match the talent of the Buckeyes. If Evan Turner finds his shot that was missing in the first two games, I expect Ohio State to cruise into the Final Four this weekend.
• Before we go into the rest of the regions, there are two non-basketball related items I wanted to touch on. First, CBS’ coverage was absolutely terrible over the weekend in my opinion. There were too many instances where we were left watching blowouts while a close game was being played deep into the second half. Even worse, there were great games going on in the second half while we were stuck watching the first half of another game. And where was the split screen when two great games were near the end at the same time?!? In Pittsburgh, we hardly saw any of the Texas-Wake Forest, Michigan State-Maryland or BYU-Florida games. Three great games that came down to the wire or overtime and all we got to see was the final seconds of each. I understand that we can buy the package to watch all the games, but that is only available to DirecTV customers. I am a DirecTV customer, but I like to get out and about to watch the games with friends, family, whoever. Besides, most of America is not a DirecTV subscriber. We can only hope that ESPN takes over the next contract and we have the ability to watch the game we want to watch when we want to watch it.
• Second, I think that the officiating has been excellent so far. I do not think there has been one instance where a call or the officiating was the story of a game. The lane violation in the Michigan State-New Mexico State game is the only call I have even heard discussed, and the correct call was made in that instance. It is always a good thing when no one is talking about the officiating, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due, especially in such a thankless job.
• Kentucky looked like the team to beat destroying each of its first two opponents. The Wildcats also answered some of their shooting questions as John Wall and Eric Bledsoe went a combined 15-22 from three-point range. Yes, if Kentucky plays like that they will be nearly impossible to beat, but that is a big question when you are talking about a freshmen dominated team. The key for John Calipari’s boys will be consistency and maintaining this level of play for four more games.
• Kentucky’s hardest opponent might be in their own region and that is West Virginia. WVU has the length and athleticism to match up with Kentucky more-so than any team left in the tournament. The only real question is if the Mountaineers can score enough to keep pace with Kentucky. If the Mountaineers can get by a scrappy, talented Washington team, the Elite Eight match-up between Kentucky and West Virginia could be the best game of the tournament.
• I thought from the beginning that Duke had the easiest road to the Elite Eight and probably even the Final Four and nothing has happened that has changed my mind. The Dukies hammered Arkansas-Pine Bluff and California and should have no problem getting by a depleted Purdue squad before a match-up against Baylor or St. Mary’s with a Final Four berth on the line. Not exactly a murderer’s row of opponents for the Blue Devils.
• St. Mary’s has been one of the surprises of the tournament so far along with Cornell, Washington, and of course Northern Iowa. The Gaels will be in for a tough test, however, as Baylor has the size to match-up with Omar Samham down low (the leading scorer in the tournament so far with 61 points in two games) and the athleticism to challenge the St. Mary’s shooters on the outside. I think the slipper falls off for all four Cinderella teams this Thursday and Friday but if I had to rank their chances of winning, it would go Northern Iowa, then Washington, then St. Mary’s, and then Cornell facing a much too-athletic Kentucky team.
• Outside of Kentucky, Syracuse has been the next most impressive team in the tournament thus far. The Orange absolutely manhandled a talented Gonzaga team on Sunday on their way to the Sweet Sixteen. More importantly, Syracuse’s best player Wes Johnson looked healthy and explosive for the first time in at least a month, pouring in 31 points and 14 rebounds. Syracuse has two tough games ahead of them, though, with a very scrappy Butler team that just flat out wins basketball games and the winner of Xavier-Kansas State, two teams that are playing extremely well right now. The return of center Arinze Onuaku, who is expected to play this week after injuring his quadriceps in the Big East Tournament, would be a big boost for the ‘Cuse as they try to make their first Final Four since 2003.
• Lastly, as my original bracket like so many others has fallen apart, here are my predictions for this weekend’s action. Ohio State over Michigan State in the Midwest, Syracuse over Kansas State in the West, Kentucky over WVU in the East and Baylor over Duke in the South. That would give me three of my four original Final Four teams and an Ohio State team who I was very tempted to pick originally (and one who I picked to win the whole thing in some secondary brackets I filled out).
Enjoy the games this weekend everyone and let’s hope that the excitement from the first weekend carries into the rounds of sixteen and eight!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Same Old Song for Pitt
All year long I have been comparing this Pitt team to the Brandin Knight – Julius Page teams from the early 2000s era. Fittingly enough, the Panthers exited the NCAA tournament in the early rounds in much the same fashion as those early Howland/Dixon teams did. Those Page-Knight teams featured good defense, consistent play and overachievement during the regular season while lacking a true star and the ability to overcome an off game in the NCAA tournament which led to early exits. Yesterday’s loss, and the 2009-2010 Panthers season in general, eerily had the same feeling.
Pitt most certainly did not play its best game of the season yesterday against Xavier. The Panthers shot only 39% from the floor compared to Xavier’s 48%, allowed the Musketeers to shoot 50% from three, and gave up a 16-0 run in the first half. Pitt also got dismal performances from two starters in Jermaine Dixon (1-9, 2 points) and Gary McGhee (0 points, 4 rebounds). Any of these would have been enough for Pitt to lose and yet there were the Panthers right in the game until the very end. The difference, just as it was so many times for those early 2000s Panther teams, was that Xavier featured a star on his way to the NBA while the Panthers were stuck with no one to take over the game in crunch time.
Jordan Crawford, famous for his dunk on LeBron James in a camp last summer, scored 27 points on 9-15 shooting (4-7 from three) and had a number of fantastic one-on-one moves to beat the Panthers’ defense. Pitt’s leading scorer Ashton Gibbs, meanwhile, finished with 19 points on only 6-16 shooting (4-13 from deep) and more importantly scored only 1 point in the second half. This game had the same feeling as the 2003 Sweet Sixteen loss to Marquette when Pitt had no answer for Dwayne Wade. That is the most memorable one but Pitt also lost to Oklahoma State in 2004 when they had no answer for Tony Allen, in 2002 when it was Antonio Gates of Kent State, and 2006 to Bradley and center Patrick O’Bryant. Once again, Pitt had no answer for the opposing team’s star, in this instance Crawford, and thus are left packing their bags earlier than they had anticipated.
I do not want to sound too negative, however, as this season must be classified as a success. Had you told any Pitt fan back in November that this team would finish 25-9, win an NCAA tournament game and finish in the top 20 of the country, I think they would have unanimously approved of such a season. The team, in what was thought to be a rebuilding year after losing Sam Young and DeJuan Blair to the NBA among four starters lost, had a great run and should be able to build on the positives heading into next season. The only meaningful contributor the Panthers lose is Jermaine Dixon and while Dixon was a fine defensive player, I see no reason Pitt should have problems replacing his production. With four starters and the top three reserves returning, the hopeful improvement of Dante Taylor as well as the other freshmen big men, and a very promising recruiting class, Pitt fans should be plenty excited about the 2010-2011 Pitt basketball team.
Pitt most certainly did not play its best game of the season yesterday against Xavier. The Panthers shot only 39% from the floor compared to Xavier’s 48%, allowed the Musketeers to shoot 50% from three, and gave up a 16-0 run in the first half. Pitt also got dismal performances from two starters in Jermaine Dixon (1-9, 2 points) and Gary McGhee (0 points, 4 rebounds). Any of these would have been enough for Pitt to lose and yet there were the Panthers right in the game until the very end. The difference, just as it was so many times for those early 2000s Panther teams, was that Xavier featured a star on his way to the NBA while the Panthers were stuck with no one to take over the game in crunch time.
Jordan Crawford, famous for his dunk on LeBron James in a camp last summer, scored 27 points on 9-15 shooting (4-7 from three) and had a number of fantastic one-on-one moves to beat the Panthers’ defense. Pitt’s leading scorer Ashton Gibbs, meanwhile, finished with 19 points on only 6-16 shooting (4-13 from deep) and more importantly scored only 1 point in the second half. This game had the same feeling as the 2003 Sweet Sixteen loss to Marquette when Pitt had no answer for Dwayne Wade. That is the most memorable one but Pitt also lost to Oklahoma State in 2004 when they had no answer for Tony Allen, in 2002 when it was Antonio Gates of Kent State, and 2006 to Bradley and center Patrick O’Bryant. Once again, Pitt had no answer for the opposing team’s star, in this instance Crawford, and thus are left packing their bags earlier than they had anticipated.
I do not want to sound too negative, however, as this season must be classified as a success. Had you told any Pitt fan back in November that this team would finish 25-9, win an NCAA tournament game and finish in the top 20 of the country, I think they would have unanimously approved of such a season. The team, in what was thought to be a rebuilding year after losing Sam Young and DeJuan Blair to the NBA among four starters lost, had a great run and should be able to build on the positives heading into next season. The only meaningful contributor the Panthers lose is Jermaine Dixon and while Dixon was a fine defensive player, I see no reason Pitt should have problems replacing his production. With four starters and the top three reserves returning, the hopeful improvement of Dante Taylor as well as the other freshmen big men, and a very promising recruiting class, Pitt fans should be plenty excited about the 2010-2011 Pitt basketball team.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Day Two Lacks Drama
We knew going in that there was no way day two could live up to day one, but I do not think anyone expected the snooze fest that ensued yesterday. Ten of the sixteen games were decided by double digits and the closest game was Michigan State’s three point win over New Mexico State. The only drama came in the Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin games, and in all of those the favorite prevailed, and without a heroic shot to mention in the bunch. The only real upset of the day was Cornell’s victory over 5th seeded Temple, but since everyone was calling this one I am not sure how big of an upset it was.
The general lack of drama also led to a lack of star performances. Jordan Crawford scored 28 points in Xavier’s win, freshman Jordan Williams paced Maryland with 21 points in a hard fought win over Houston and Kalin Lucas scored 25 as Michigan State held off a 2nd half surge by New Mexico State. As you can see, there really were no standout performances in a day that lacked a signature moment.
The story from day one was the Big East’s demise, but after Pitt, West Virginia and Syracuse took care of business, order was restored a bit and the Big East finished the opening round at 4-4.
Round two kicks off this afternoon and there are a number of intriguing games. Can Villanova regain its early season form? Can Ohio stay on this magical run? Will Kansas and Kentucky stay on track to meet each other in the Finals? Whatever happens, I hope the drama comes much closer to matching Thursday’s spectacular moments than the total lack of suspense we encountered yesterday.
The general lack of drama also led to a lack of star performances. Jordan Crawford scored 28 points in Xavier’s win, freshman Jordan Williams paced Maryland with 21 points in a hard fought win over Houston and Kalin Lucas scored 25 as Michigan State held off a 2nd half surge by New Mexico State. As you can see, there really were no standout performances in a day that lacked a signature moment.
The story from day one was the Big East’s demise, but after Pitt, West Virginia and Syracuse took care of business, order was restored a bit and the Big East finished the opening round at 4-4.
Round two kicks off this afternoon and there are a number of intriguing games. Can Villanova regain its early season form? Can Ohio stay on this magical run? Will Kansas and Kentucky stay on track to meet each other in the Finals? Whatever happens, I hope the drama comes much closer to matching Thursday’s spectacular moments than the total lack of suspense we encountered yesterday.
Friday, March 19, 2010
NCAA Tourney Day One Recap
Day one of the 2010 NCAA Tournament is now in the books and what a day it was. Nine games came down to the end, including three overtime games, one double overtime, two buzzer-beaters, two missed buzzer-beaters and two other game winning shots with under five seconds left. I am out of breath just typing all of that.
The biggest story of the day was the failure of the Big East. Georgetown lost as heavy favorites to Ohio, Notre Dame lost as favorites to Old Dominion, and Marquette lost what I thought was the best game of the day to Washington, blowing a 13-point second half lead in the process. The Big East’s only win came from Villanova, an overtime win over mighty Robert Morris, and they may have looked the worst out of all four Big East teams yesterday. It will be up to West Virginia, Pitt, Syracuse and Louisville to right the ship today for the Big East.
Heroes of the day included Quincy Poindexter of Washington, who made a brilliant one-on-one move to hit the game winning shot against Marquette, Danero Thomas of Murray State, who hit the first buzzer beater of the tournament from about 18 feet to upset Vanderbilt, Jimmer Fredette of BYU, who scored 37 in leading his team to double overtime victory over Florida, and the late night hero Ish Smith of Wake Forest, who’s buzzer beater in overtime sent Texas packing.
If day two brings half as much excitement as day one, it will be another great day of basketball. There will be no live blogging today as I will be out and about catching all of the action with friends. I will be back tomorrow to give my recap and thoughts on the complete first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The biggest story of the day was the failure of the Big East. Georgetown lost as heavy favorites to Ohio, Notre Dame lost as favorites to Old Dominion, and Marquette lost what I thought was the best game of the day to Washington, blowing a 13-point second half lead in the process. The Big East’s only win came from Villanova, an overtime win over mighty Robert Morris, and they may have looked the worst out of all four Big East teams yesterday. It will be up to West Virginia, Pitt, Syracuse and Louisville to right the ship today for the Big East.
Heroes of the day included Quincy Poindexter of Washington, who made a brilliant one-on-one move to hit the game winning shot against Marquette, Danero Thomas of Murray State, who hit the first buzzer beater of the tournament from about 18 feet to upset Vanderbilt, Jimmer Fredette of BYU, who scored 37 in leading his team to double overtime victory over Florida, and the late night hero Ish Smith of Wake Forest, who’s buzzer beater in overtime sent Texas packing.
If day two brings half as much excitement as day one, it will be another great day of basketball. There will be no live blogging today as I will be out and about catching all of the action with friends. I will be back tomorrow to give my recap and thoughts on the complete first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tourney Live-Blogging
12:18pm - Great finish to the Tennessee game and a roller coaster ride for all the bettors out there. Texas looks to give the second overtime cover of the day for those that had BYU, like some guys I happen to know. All in all, it was a great day. I enjoyed doing the blogging throughout the day but it's time to call it a night. I will post my wrap-up thoughts from the first day of action tomorrow morning.
11:43pm - It looks like San Diego St.-Tennessee could be our next great finish. This game has a back and forth type feel to it and I bet it goes down to the wire. Texas, much like Washington when I said it, refuses to go quietly. The only thing left to talk about in the Kansas game is whether they cover the 25 point spread or not. Sorry Lehigh, it was fun while it was lasted. Get back to designing our bridges now please.
11:30pm - It looks like Texas wants everyone to remember how this season went up in flames. From 17-0 and the number 1 team in the country to a #8 seed in the tournament and a first round loss. Rick Barnes' teams never seem to reach their potential. Why is this?
11:19pm - Did anyone know Wayne Chism is missing his headband? He also loses it twice per game. (You get this if you're watching the Tennessee game right now.) Good start to the second half for San Diego State. Wake Forest looks like they have jumped out to a good start in the 2nd half as well, but I would not know since CBS refuses to show me a second of this game.
11:08pm - I was talking about how ugly the Tennessee-San Diego State game was at times, but that was before this Montana-New Mexico contest became the featured game. Now this is some ugly basketball. Darrington Hobson just went down for New Mexico, this could be huge for the outcome of this game if Hobson cannot return. He is the Lobos do all it all premier player.
10:51pm - Kansas only leads by 6 at the break. I doubt that this game even stays close in the second half, but it is always interesting when a #1 seed is in a bit of trouble. Remember, a #1 seed has never lost since the current seeding format was put in place.
Texas leads Wake Forest by 1 at halftime in the game of who can end the year with the most disappointing season. I expect Texas to win this game, but the way they shoot free throws I do not feel all that confident.
10:41pm - This San Diego State-Tennessee game has been very weird. One play a team looks great, the next it is completely terrible. Very weird game to try and get a grasp of at this point. CBS, meanwhile, has not shown us a single second of the Texas-Wake Forest game. Keep up the great work CBS!
10:19pm - Wayne Chism of Tennessee just bricked a wide open 3 without drawing iron. That was followed immediately by a San Diego State player hitting the side of the backboard on a corner 3. Needless to say, we are no longer watching the Washington-Marquette game.
Kansas, meanwhile, has gotten off to a slow start. I'm guessing they may have been shocked to see a five-man starting line-up consisting of all white guys on the other side.
10:06pm - Well that wasn't fun. Not only does Marquette lose, it takes a half hour to play 1.7 seconds. These coaches have too many time outs at their disposal. More importantly, how does Marquette let Washington's best player go one-on-one all the way to the hoop?!? What kind of defense was that...Where is the help? Where is the double team? You have to make him give the ball up in that situation.
In a related and surprising note, the big, bad Big East is now 1-3 in the tournament with their only win being Villanova's ugly W in overtime over Robert Morris. I don't think the Big East supporters will be talking too much tomorrow!
9:43pm - That did not take long. Washington erases a 13-point defecit and now leads by 1 with five minutes remaining. Have either of these teams ever heard of the word defense?
9:36pm - See what happens when you speak to soon. Washington right back in the game. I should have known better with two teams that play offense as well as these two do. We may just have another fantastic finish.
9:25pm - I told you we were going to get a great finish in the 8-9 game in the Midwest. What a shot by the Northern Iowa kid. When he shot it, I yelled 'no!' I quickly followed that up with 'yes, great shot!' Marquette looks to be pulling away so we may take a quick break as these first games of the night wind down.
9:11pm - Going to be a great finish in the Northern Iowa-UNLV game. UNLV was able to counter N.Iowa's 11-1 run with a quick 7-0 run themselves. Going to be another great finish I think. Meanwhile, Kentucky looks like they are going to make it interesting, interesting on the 19 point line anyway!
8:50pm - Fantastic half of basketball. Washington shot 66.7% from 3pt range and nearly 56% overall. Marquette, who leads by 1 at the break, was cold compared to that, shooting 63.6% from 3 and 52% overall. The team that wins this game is going to be the one who steps up and plays a little defense in the 2nd half.
The Kentucky game is over and it looks like John Thompson III's speech didn't work at halftime as Ohio has extended their lead on the Hoyas. Our only drama in the three early games looks like it might come from Northern Iowa-UNLV, a game that has been tight throughout.
8:21pm - I haven't taken my eyes off the TV. Wow, this game is an incredible show of offense by both teams. Thank goodness the other three games are all at halftime at the same time so the whole country can see this up and down show. Wonder what Thompson III is saying to his Hoyas in the locker room. I cannot imagine that is a very fun place to be right now.
8:05pm - Super fast start to the Marquette-Washington game. I told you this could be a fun one. I have no idea what John Thompson's boys are doing. Taking the opponent lightly anyone?
7:57pm - Marquette and Washington have tipped off. This could be the most entertaining game of the night. Both of these teams will play fast and are very efficient of offense.
By the way, we went with Northern Iowa, Georgetown, Kentucky and Marquette against the spread. We are off to a so-so 4-4 start in the afternoon games.
7:52pm - Kentucky is off to a great start. Georgetown, however, is struggling out of the gate with Ohio, who finished in 9th place in the MAC during the regular season by the way. UNLV-Northern Iowa looks like it could be a good one. Watching UNLV, they seem like a team who should be better than they play. We're off to a slow start on the live blogging, but quite frankly, not too much has been happening. Maybe it's just the letdown coming off such great games to start the day.
7:30pm - We're back! And my bracket took a beating while we were gone as both Richmond and UTEP imploded in the 2nd half. What in the world happened to UTEP in the 2nd half? They were winning by 6 at halftime and went down by as many as 17 within the first 7 or 8 minutes after halftime. Talk about total lack of adjustments...
Entertaining start to the UNLV-Northern Iowa game so far.
******
5:00pm - Baylor holds on for the victory and my bracket stays in tact. This Richmond-St. Mary's game is the opposite of exciting and it is now 5pm. Sounds like a good time to get some dinner, recharge the batteries and come back strong tonight. What a great start to the tournament! See everyone in a couple hours.
4:43pm - First buzzer beater of the tournament!!!! My bracket remains perfect through four games! Go home Vandy! Yes, I feel like I just hit that jumper!
4:41pm - Good replay work there, originally thought that ball was off Murray St. I'm pulling hard for a Murray State victory here!
4:35pm - Well it took halftime of the Richmond-St.Mary's game, but I think we will finally get the Murray State finish. I pray that ESPN wins the bidding rights for this coverage either next year or in three years when the current deal expires (the NCAA has an option of opting out of its current deal). By the way, this McConnell kid from St. Mary's is on fire right now. Tied up at halftime, and St. Mary's has to feel good going in with their big man in foul trouble and sitting the final seven minutes of the half.
4:26pm - We're still sitting here with this Richmond game on while a great game between Murray State and Vanderbilt, a 2 point game with under three minutes no less, is going on. We have it on the computer, but come on CBS, do your job!
4:15pm - Kansas State is starting to pull away, so much for my wife's upset pick! Baylor has taken the lead early in the second half, Richmond is up early and Murray State continues to lead Vanderbilt. At this point I would be excited if I bet money on these games. Ask me again in 10 minutes, though, as one thing you know in hoops is that it is a game of runs.
4:09pm - Kind of a lull in the action. CBS is force feeding us the Richmond-St.Mary's game right now on our main TV. Meanwhile, two high seeds are losing in the second half of the other two games currently in action. Good job CBS!
3:48pm - Got a text from another buddy wondering if I think Seton Hall or St. John's were watching that Robert Morris game. I agree, Rice would be a great fit at one of those schools. My Dad chimed in that Duquesne made a big mistake when they fired Mike Rice Sr. as their head coach nearly 30 years ago.
3:41pm - What a great start to the tournament, I can't say it enough. Took the dog for a quick walk for some fresh air after three great games. Murray State is up at the half, so far, so good on my bracket! I don't like Sam Houston State hanging around with Baylor, however. Sam Houston State was one team I hadn't seen much of and so far I am pretty impressed. My wife's North Texas pick is looking good so far! Yes, I am kidding. Robert Morris was able to hang around the whole game, though, maybe North Texas is stealing some of their 15 seed mojo.
3:12pm - Robert Morris won't go away!!! What a start to the tournament. A one-point win, a double overtime game and now a great finish to another OT game!!! That's why we love March Madness.
3:05pm - Did I say I hate gambling?!? I meant I love it! BYU covers the 5.5 spread in double overtime. As my buddy texted me, "never worried". Villanova is going to win this game in overtime. That's a shame, Robert Morris has outplayed them for most of this game. Mike Rice, Robert Morris' head coach, is going to end up coaching a big-time program someday, you heard it here first!
2:25pm - ODU holds on! I think I picked them to win in every bracket I have. Notre Dame lets teams hang around and it cost them. We are happy that BYU heads to overtime after blowing a 13 point lead. This is why betting sucks! Nova continues to struggle with Bobby Mo, it's time to start rooting for the underdog.
Once again if gambling were legal, I would give the points with Richmond, Baylor and Kansas State and take the points with UTEP and Murray State in the second set of games.
2:15pm - It is never easy! BYU blows a 13-point lead and is now trailing by 1 with a minute or so left, WTF! Need overtime it looks like. Meanwhile, ODU doesn't make a front end of a one-and-one, will be lucky to survive now.
1:59 pm - BYU looks like they might start pulling away. No surprise here if they do. I thought Florida was the worst at-large selection and BYU was very good against the spread all year. We have the Villanova- Bobby Mo game on here. The Colonials are not just getting lucky, they do not look overmatched at all. Maybe this Villanova team was just overrated all year long.
1:40 pm - Finally settled in to watch the games. My Dad says he has been watching some terribly ugly shooting so far. As long as ODU and BYU win and cover, I don't care how ugly it is! Will check back in a little once I get to see some actual basketball.
12:10pm - My first ever live blog, well semi-live since we'll update every little bit with a few tidbits since I have not mastered by live-blogging technology yet. Anyways, if gambling were legal, I would be taking 'Nova minus the points, BYU minus the points and Old Dominion plus the points in the three early games.
I need to finish some things up at my real job so expect some delays early on. I will be back in about an hour with my early thoughts on the day's first games.
11:43pm - It looks like San Diego St.-Tennessee could be our next great finish. This game has a back and forth type feel to it and I bet it goes down to the wire. Texas, much like Washington when I said it, refuses to go quietly. The only thing left to talk about in the Kansas game is whether they cover the 25 point spread or not. Sorry Lehigh, it was fun while it was lasted. Get back to designing our bridges now please.
11:30pm - It looks like Texas wants everyone to remember how this season went up in flames. From 17-0 and the number 1 team in the country to a #8 seed in the tournament and a first round loss. Rick Barnes' teams never seem to reach their potential. Why is this?
11:19pm - Did anyone know Wayne Chism is missing his headband? He also loses it twice per game. (You get this if you're watching the Tennessee game right now.) Good start to the second half for San Diego State. Wake Forest looks like they have jumped out to a good start in the 2nd half as well, but I would not know since CBS refuses to show me a second of this game.
11:08pm - I was talking about how ugly the Tennessee-San Diego State game was at times, but that was before this Montana-New Mexico contest became the featured game. Now this is some ugly basketball. Darrington Hobson just went down for New Mexico, this could be huge for the outcome of this game if Hobson cannot return. He is the Lobos do all it all premier player.
10:51pm - Kansas only leads by 6 at the break. I doubt that this game even stays close in the second half, but it is always interesting when a #1 seed is in a bit of trouble. Remember, a #1 seed has never lost since the current seeding format was put in place.
Texas leads Wake Forest by 1 at halftime in the game of who can end the year with the most disappointing season. I expect Texas to win this game, but the way they shoot free throws I do not feel all that confident.
10:41pm - This San Diego State-Tennessee game has been very weird. One play a team looks great, the next it is completely terrible. Very weird game to try and get a grasp of at this point. CBS, meanwhile, has not shown us a single second of the Texas-Wake Forest game. Keep up the great work CBS!
10:19pm - Wayne Chism of Tennessee just bricked a wide open 3 without drawing iron. That was followed immediately by a San Diego State player hitting the side of the backboard on a corner 3. Needless to say, we are no longer watching the Washington-Marquette game.
Kansas, meanwhile, has gotten off to a slow start. I'm guessing they may have been shocked to see a five-man starting line-up consisting of all white guys on the other side.
10:06pm - Well that wasn't fun. Not only does Marquette lose, it takes a half hour to play 1.7 seconds. These coaches have too many time outs at their disposal. More importantly, how does Marquette let Washington's best player go one-on-one all the way to the hoop?!? What kind of defense was that...Where is the help? Where is the double team? You have to make him give the ball up in that situation.
In a related and surprising note, the big, bad Big East is now 1-3 in the tournament with their only win being Villanova's ugly W in overtime over Robert Morris. I don't think the Big East supporters will be talking too much tomorrow!
9:43pm - That did not take long. Washington erases a 13-point defecit and now leads by 1 with five minutes remaining. Have either of these teams ever heard of the word defense?
9:36pm - See what happens when you speak to soon. Washington right back in the game. I should have known better with two teams that play offense as well as these two do. We may just have another fantastic finish.
9:25pm - I told you we were going to get a great finish in the 8-9 game in the Midwest. What a shot by the Northern Iowa kid. When he shot it, I yelled 'no!' I quickly followed that up with 'yes, great shot!' Marquette looks to be pulling away so we may take a quick break as these first games of the night wind down.
9:11pm - Going to be a great finish in the Northern Iowa-UNLV game. UNLV was able to counter N.Iowa's 11-1 run with a quick 7-0 run themselves. Going to be another great finish I think. Meanwhile, Kentucky looks like they are going to make it interesting, interesting on the 19 point line anyway!
8:50pm - Fantastic half of basketball. Washington shot 66.7% from 3pt range and nearly 56% overall. Marquette, who leads by 1 at the break, was cold compared to that, shooting 63.6% from 3 and 52% overall. The team that wins this game is going to be the one who steps up and plays a little defense in the 2nd half.
The Kentucky game is over and it looks like John Thompson III's speech didn't work at halftime as Ohio has extended their lead on the Hoyas. Our only drama in the three early games looks like it might come from Northern Iowa-UNLV, a game that has been tight throughout.
8:21pm - I haven't taken my eyes off the TV. Wow, this game is an incredible show of offense by both teams. Thank goodness the other three games are all at halftime at the same time so the whole country can see this up and down show. Wonder what Thompson III is saying to his Hoyas in the locker room. I cannot imagine that is a very fun place to be right now.
8:05pm - Super fast start to the Marquette-Washington game. I told you this could be a fun one. I have no idea what John Thompson's boys are doing. Taking the opponent lightly anyone?
7:57pm - Marquette and Washington have tipped off. This could be the most entertaining game of the night. Both of these teams will play fast and are very efficient of offense.
By the way, we went with Northern Iowa, Georgetown, Kentucky and Marquette against the spread. We are off to a so-so 4-4 start in the afternoon games.
7:52pm - Kentucky is off to a great start. Georgetown, however, is struggling out of the gate with Ohio, who finished in 9th place in the MAC during the regular season by the way. UNLV-Northern Iowa looks like it could be a good one. Watching UNLV, they seem like a team who should be better than they play. We're off to a slow start on the live blogging, but quite frankly, not too much has been happening. Maybe it's just the letdown coming off such great games to start the day.
7:30pm - We're back! And my bracket took a beating while we were gone as both Richmond and UTEP imploded in the 2nd half. What in the world happened to UTEP in the 2nd half? They were winning by 6 at halftime and went down by as many as 17 within the first 7 or 8 minutes after halftime. Talk about total lack of adjustments...
Entertaining start to the UNLV-Northern Iowa game so far.
******
5:00pm - Baylor holds on for the victory and my bracket stays in tact. This Richmond-St. Mary's game is the opposite of exciting and it is now 5pm. Sounds like a good time to get some dinner, recharge the batteries and come back strong tonight. What a great start to the tournament! See everyone in a couple hours.
4:43pm - First buzzer beater of the tournament!!!! My bracket remains perfect through four games! Go home Vandy! Yes, I feel like I just hit that jumper!
4:41pm - Good replay work there, originally thought that ball was off Murray St. I'm pulling hard for a Murray State victory here!
4:35pm - Well it took halftime of the Richmond-St.Mary's game, but I think we will finally get the Murray State finish. I pray that ESPN wins the bidding rights for this coverage either next year or in three years when the current deal expires (the NCAA has an option of opting out of its current deal). By the way, this McConnell kid from St. Mary's is on fire right now. Tied up at halftime, and St. Mary's has to feel good going in with their big man in foul trouble and sitting the final seven minutes of the half.
4:26pm - We're still sitting here with this Richmond game on while a great game between Murray State and Vanderbilt, a 2 point game with under three minutes no less, is going on. We have it on the computer, but come on CBS, do your job!
4:15pm - Kansas State is starting to pull away, so much for my wife's upset pick! Baylor has taken the lead early in the second half, Richmond is up early and Murray State continues to lead Vanderbilt. At this point I would be excited if I bet money on these games. Ask me again in 10 minutes, though, as one thing you know in hoops is that it is a game of runs.
4:09pm - Kind of a lull in the action. CBS is force feeding us the Richmond-St.Mary's game right now on our main TV. Meanwhile, two high seeds are losing in the second half of the other two games currently in action. Good job CBS!
3:48pm - Got a text from another buddy wondering if I think Seton Hall or St. John's were watching that Robert Morris game. I agree, Rice would be a great fit at one of those schools. My Dad chimed in that Duquesne made a big mistake when they fired Mike Rice Sr. as their head coach nearly 30 years ago.
3:41pm - What a great start to the tournament, I can't say it enough. Took the dog for a quick walk for some fresh air after three great games. Murray State is up at the half, so far, so good on my bracket! I don't like Sam Houston State hanging around with Baylor, however. Sam Houston State was one team I hadn't seen much of and so far I am pretty impressed. My wife's North Texas pick is looking good so far! Yes, I am kidding. Robert Morris was able to hang around the whole game, though, maybe North Texas is stealing some of their 15 seed mojo.
3:12pm - Robert Morris won't go away!!! What a start to the tournament. A one-point win, a double overtime game and now a great finish to another OT game!!! That's why we love March Madness.
3:05pm - Did I say I hate gambling?!? I meant I love it! BYU covers the 5.5 spread in double overtime. As my buddy texted me, "never worried". Villanova is going to win this game in overtime. That's a shame, Robert Morris has outplayed them for most of this game. Mike Rice, Robert Morris' head coach, is going to end up coaching a big-time program someday, you heard it here first!
2:25pm - ODU holds on! I think I picked them to win in every bracket I have. Notre Dame lets teams hang around and it cost them. We are happy that BYU heads to overtime after blowing a 13 point lead. This is why betting sucks! Nova continues to struggle with Bobby Mo, it's time to start rooting for the underdog.
Once again if gambling were legal, I would give the points with Richmond, Baylor and Kansas State and take the points with UTEP and Murray State in the second set of games.
2:15pm - It is never easy! BYU blows a 13-point lead and is now trailing by 1 with a minute or so left, WTF! Need overtime it looks like. Meanwhile, ODU doesn't make a front end of a one-and-one, will be lucky to survive now.
1:59 pm - BYU looks like they might start pulling away. No surprise here if they do. I thought Florida was the worst at-large selection and BYU was very good against the spread all year. We have the Villanova- Bobby Mo game on here. The Colonials are not just getting lucky, they do not look overmatched at all. Maybe this Villanova team was just overrated all year long.
1:40 pm - Finally settled in to watch the games. My Dad says he has been watching some terribly ugly shooting so far. As long as ODU and BYU win and cover, I don't care how ugly it is! Will check back in a little once I get to see some actual basketball.
12:10pm - My first ever live blog, well semi-live since we'll update every little bit with a few tidbits since I have not mastered by live-blogging technology yet. Anyways, if gambling were legal, I would be taking 'Nova minus the points, BYU minus the points and Old Dominion plus the points in the three early games.
I need to finish some things up at my real job so expect some delays early on. I will be back in about an hour with my early thoughts on the day's first games.
NCAA Bracket Selections
Thursday has come, everyone has filled out their brackets and opening tip-off of the 2010 NCAA Tournament is just hours away. The first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA Tournament have a certain buzz about them, kind of like we are watching something great develop in its infant stages. I, of course, have taken the afternoon off and a vacation day on Friday to watch all of the action. I will be blogging, semi-live, throughout today’s games with my thoughts on all that is happening. Be ready for betting updates, upset alerts, buzzer beater reactions and much more as we take in all of the action in today’s opening games!
Before we get to the games, however, it is time to unveil the “official” People’s Quarterback bracket. I call it official because like so many of you, I fill out too many of these things to keep track of. This one, however, is the one I am holding myself accountable for, as Regis used to say, “final answer!”
Before I give my picks, I must admit that I have watched more college basketball this year than I can ever remember. When you have a pregnant wife that goes to sleep at 8pm and a new sports blog, you have both a reason and an excuse to watch as much sports as possible, and in this case college hoops.
For instance, I have seen three, yes three, Utah State home games. I say this because their home court advantage is awesome. They squeeze around 11,000 people into their arena, cheer the whole game, have their student section behind the visiting teams’ hoop in the second half and have one student, a rather large man, dress in skimpy costumes and stand on a table and dance around when the visitors shoot free throws. In two of the games I saw, he was dressed as Robinhood and Cupid. Highly entertaining, but I bring this up because how many people outside of Utah or that are not alumni have seen one Utah St. game ever, let alone three home games in one year. I know that Isaiah Thomas of Washington was named Isaiah because his father lost a bet on a Detroit Pistons playoff game when Thomas’ mother was pregnant with him. I also know his mother allowed the name because it was a biblical name.
I know the Pac 10 stinks, the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West are strong, I know transfers are making a big deal across the country, like Jordan Crawford at Xavier (formerly Indiana), Taylor King at Villanova (Duke), Wes Johnson at Syracuse (Iowa State), and Derrick Caracter at UTEP (Louisville). I know that Kansas and Kentucky are the two best teams but that Syracuse and Duke were rewarded with the two easiest paths to the Final Four. I know how teams have done against the spread, at home, and on the road. Quite frankly, I know way more than I should about way more teams, conferences and players than I will ever need to know.
So what does that all mean, absolutely nothing! That is what makes March Madness so great and so many people across the country love it. My bracket has the same chance as my wife’s, who may have seen Pitt play one time all season as her only basketball watching experience and who picked North Texas to reach the Sweet Sixteen. So without further ado, here is the first official People’s Quarterback bracket:
Midwest
Kansas over Lehigh
UNLV over N. Iowa
MSU over New Mexico St
Maryland over Houston
San Diego State over Tennessee
Georgetown over Ohio
Georgia Tech over Oklahoma State
Ohio State over UCSB
Kansas over Michigan State
Ohio State over Georgetown
Kansas over Ohio State
West
Syracuse over Vermont
Gonzaga over Florida State
UTEP over Butler
Murray State over Vanderbilt
Xavier over Minnesota
Pitt over Oakland
BYU over Florida
Kansas State over North Texas
Syracuse over UTEP
Kansas State over Pitt
Syracuse over Kansas State
East
Kentucky over ETSU
Texas over Wake Forest
Temple over Cornell
Wisconsin over Wofford
Marquette over Washington
New Mexico over Montana
Missouri over Clemson
West Virginia over Morgan State
Kentucky over Wisconsin
West Virginia over Marquette
Kentucky over West Virginia
South
Duke over Ark-Pine Bluff
Louisville over California
Texas A&M over Utah State
Siena over Purdue
Old Dominion over Notre Dame
Baylor over Sam Houston State
Richmond over St. Mary’s
Villanova over Robert Morris
Duke over Texas A&M
Baylor over Villanova
Baylor over Duke
Final Four
Kansas over Syracuse
Kentucky over Baylor
Kentucky over Kansas
Before we get to the games, however, it is time to unveil the “official” People’s Quarterback bracket. I call it official because like so many of you, I fill out too many of these things to keep track of. This one, however, is the one I am holding myself accountable for, as Regis used to say, “final answer!”
Before I give my picks, I must admit that I have watched more college basketball this year than I can ever remember. When you have a pregnant wife that goes to sleep at 8pm and a new sports blog, you have both a reason and an excuse to watch as much sports as possible, and in this case college hoops.
For instance, I have seen three, yes three, Utah State home games. I say this because their home court advantage is awesome. They squeeze around 11,000 people into their arena, cheer the whole game, have their student section behind the visiting teams’ hoop in the second half and have one student, a rather large man, dress in skimpy costumes and stand on a table and dance around when the visitors shoot free throws. In two of the games I saw, he was dressed as Robinhood and Cupid. Highly entertaining, but I bring this up because how many people outside of Utah or that are not alumni have seen one Utah St. game ever, let alone three home games in one year. I know that Isaiah Thomas of Washington was named Isaiah because his father lost a bet on a Detroit Pistons playoff game when Thomas’ mother was pregnant with him. I also know his mother allowed the name because it was a biblical name.
I know the Pac 10 stinks, the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West are strong, I know transfers are making a big deal across the country, like Jordan Crawford at Xavier (formerly Indiana), Taylor King at Villanova (Duke), Wes Johnson at Syracuse (Iowa State), and Derrick Caracter at UTEP (Louisville). I know that Kansas and Kentucky are the two best teams but that Syracuse and Duke were rewarded with the two easiest paths to the Final Four. I know how teams have done against the spread, at home, and on the road. Quite frankly, I know way more than I should about way more teams, conferences and players than I will ever need to know.
So what does that all mean, absolutely nothing! That is what makes March Madness so great and so many people across the country love it. My bracket has the same chance as my wife’s, who may have seen Pitt play one time all season as her only basketball watching experience and who picked North Texas to reach the Sweet Sixteen. So without further ado, here is the first official People’s Quarterback bracket:
Midwest
Kansas over Lehigh
UNLV over N. Iowa
MSU over New Mexico St
Maryland over Houston
San Diego State over Tennessee
Georgetown over Ohio
Georgia Tech over Oklahoma State
Ohio State over UCSB
Kansas over Michigan State
Ohio State over Georgetown
Kansas over Ohio State
West
Syracuse over Vermont
Gonzaga over Florida State
UTEP over Butler
Murray State over Vanderbilt
Xavier over Minnesota
Pitt over Oakland
BYU over Florida
Kansas State over North Texas
Syracuse over UTEP
Kansas State over Pitt
Syracuse over Kansas State
East
Kentucky over ETSU
Texas over Wake Forest
Temple over Cornell
Wisconsin over Wofford
Marquette over Washington
New Mexico over Montana
Missouri over Clemson
West Virginia over Morgan State
Kentucky over Wisconsin
West Virginia over Marquette
Kentucky over West Virginia
South
Duke over Ark-Pine Bluff
Louisville over California
Texas A&M over Utah State
Siena over Purdue
Old Dominion over Notre Dame
Baylor over Sam Houston State
Richmond over St. Mary’s
Villanova over Robert Morris
Duke over Texas A&M
Baylor over Villanova
Baylor over Duke
Final Four
Kansas over Syracuse
Kentucky over Baylor
Kentucky over Kansas
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Penguins Look "Sharp"
Before we dig in deep for the NCAA basketball tournament over the next three weeks, I wanted to quickly address the Penguins and how they have played since returning from the Olympic break. Stealing a word from the women over forty dictionary, the Penguins have looked “sharp” since returning from the two-week break. The Pens have gone 5-1-1 in the seven games back, overtaken the Devils for the division lead, and have a two point lead over New Jersey heading into a very interesting back to back the next two nights.
The Penguins lone regulation loss in their past seven games came to the Devils of course, who have now beaten the Pens in all five games this season. This sets up a big showdown in New Jersey tonight. It is safe to say that the Penguins could use a win tonight against the Devils not only for the division race, but for their own psychological well-being. Tomorrow night, Crosby and company will take on the Boston Bruins in what should be a very emotionally charged game after Matt Cooke’s concussion-producing hit on Bruins’ star Marc Savard in their last meeting. These two games are no bigger than any other on the schedule the rest of the way, but I am sure they will have a different feel as a ton of emotion should be involved in both.
The acquisitions General Manager Ray Shero made at the trading deadline, defenseman Jordan Leopold and left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky, have blended in very nicely on the roster. Leopold is a plus five in a Penguins uniform during the seven games he has played, providing steady play along the blue line and a good ability to move the puck. Ponikarovsky has three points in five games and seems to be settling in nicely among the Penguins’ top two lines. As I said at the deadline, the Penguins got better with these two acquisitions as they fit in perfectly with the rest of the Penguins’ roster.
The Penguins have survived a couple of injury scares as Sidney Crosby escaped unscathed from an awkward hit from behind last week and Evgeni Malkin is only expected to miss a few games after being hit with a shot on his right foot against the Lightning. The Pens, for the most part, are the healthiest they have been all year and are well equipped for the stretch run leading up to the playoffs.
The Penguins lone regulation loss in their past seven games came to the Devils of course, who have now beaten the Pens in all five games this season. This sets up a big showdown in New Jersey tonight. It is safe to say that the Penguins could use a win tonight against the Devils not only for the division race, but for their own psychological well-being. Tomorrow night, Crosby and company will take on the Boston Bruins in what should be a very emotionally charged game after Matt Cooke’s concussion-producing hit on Bruins’ star Marc Savard in their last meeting. These two games are no bigger than any other on the schedule the rest of the way, but I am sure they will have a different feel as a ton of emotion should be involved in both.
The acquisitions General Manager Ray Shero made at the trading deadline, defenseman Jordan Leopold and left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky, have blended in very nicely on the roster. Leopold is a plus five in a Penguins uniform during the seven games he has played, providing steady play along the blue line and a good ability to move the puck. Ponikarovsky has three points in five games and seems to be settling in nicely among the Penguins’ top two lines. As I said at the deadline, the Penguins got better with these two acquisitions as they fit in perfectly with the rest of the Penguins’ roster.
The Penguins have survived a couple of injury scares as Sidney Crosby escaped unscathed from an awkward hit from behind last week and Evgeni Malkin is only expected to miss a few games after being hit with a shot on his right foot against the Lightning. The Pens, for the most part, are the healthiest they have been all year and are well equipped for the stretch run leading up to the playoffs.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Selection Sunday!
Selection Sunday is one of my favorite days of the year and has been for as long as I can remember. It started when I was a little kid and no matter what was going on or what he was doing, my Dad would drop everything to get ready for the 6pm live releasing of the NCAA Tournament field. He would settle down in front of the TV with his blank bracket and a pen, ready to scribble in each selection as it was released. Remember, this was before the internet, before the instant availability of a printed bracket, and before seven different ESPN channels were breaking down every match-up. If you did not write down the selections as they were released, there was a good chance you were not going to get the bracket in its entirety until Monday morning’s newspaper.
Like every son imitating their father, I made my Dad copy me a blank bracket at his office (yes, copy machines were considered advanced technology then!) and would scribble down the selections with him as they came out. Being like four or five-years-old, I couldn’t write fast enough, however, and always had to copy the ones I missed from him after the show was over. At some point I got the great idea to make a big bracket on a large cardboard construction sheet, the kind you would always use to do a school project. I would spend the rest of the night making my large bracket with every team and seed in its proper position. I would hang the poster board in my room, updating the bracket everytime a team won. I think I paid more attention to detail in making this poster board bracket than anything I have ever done. I remember measuring out every little centimeter, but always ending up so mad when the bracket still came out crooked in the end because I have absolutely no artistic ability. I titled every bracket on top in big block letters, “COUNTDOWN TO (insert Final Four city here)”. I kept these brackets every year, probably doing this for seven or eight years before my little brother took over this duty. I think these poster board brackets are still at my parent’s house somewhere to this day, unless my Mom finally threw them away or gave them to my little sister to use for a school project. I also remember begging my Mom to stay up late to watch the late games on Thursday and Friday night, throwing temper tantrums that you wouldn’t believe. I should have known then that my love of sports, especially basketball, was a little crazy.
Selection Sunday also meant the first fantasy sports experience in my life. Long before fantasy football, fantasy baseball, hell, even fantasy nascar and golf exist today, my Dad and his friends had a fantasy league for the NCAA tournament. This is why it was essential for my Dad to have the bracket filled out during the Selection Show instead of waiting for Monday’s paper. He would spend all night Sunday, into the wee hours of the morning, giving each team a power ranking based on the number of games he expected them to play. He would then multiply this number by the number of points the guy averaged over his last ten games. (They got every team’s players and points per game average by ordering some book months in advance every year that had every possible team that could make the NCAA tournament, including all the bubble teams and even the very unlikely to make it teams to be safe). Remember, again, there were no computers or excel sheets. He wrote everything out, doing the math with a calculator and making two sheets, one organized by team and one with the players listed in order of projected total points. We’re talking over 300 players at least, you can see why this took him all night. He was then in two drafts, Tuesday night and Wednesday night, with two different groups of friends. I remember it being like Christmas to me, waking up the following morning and getting to see who he picked.
***Quick tangent on how to play the NCAA tournament fantasy game***
Let me quickly explain how the draft/game works for those that might want to try it with their own buddies. It’s a great way to have even more interest in the NCAA tournament and another reason to have a draft, the most fun part of any fantasy league. Get a group of friends together, my current league has 10 guys, and have a draft consisting of 20-25 rounds (snake-fashioned of course) depending how deep in the player pool you want to go. Players are eligible from every NCAA Tournament team and all players are active as long as their team remains in the NCAA field. The only stat that matters is points, so it is simple and everyone can understand it. When a player’s team is eliminated from the tournament, your player is eliminated and will no longer accumulate points for your team. The team with the most points in the end wins. We give out 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes. You will see as you build your league up that certain traditions and reoccurring themes start to develop. My Dad’s one league for example, started giving out $50 for the Don Redden award for the highest scoring pick after the 17th round. (Don Redden was the captain of the 1986 LSU team that reached the Final Four as a #11 seed. Redden passed away just two years later of heart disease, thus sparking the Don Redden award because he would always be mentioned as the greatest pick of the tournament draft). If anyone has any questions on how to play, feel free to drop me an email.
***Back to our regularly scheduled column***
When I was old enough to do math, I made a deal with my Dad that all he needed to do were his power rankings and I would do all of the math and all of the writing for a certain percentage of his winnings. Now it was like Christmas, Easter and my birthday morning all rolled into one when I woke up and got to see who “we” picked the night before. It gave me an even greater reason to watch every game of the tournament and root for our guys. When we got our first family computer in 1997, my freshman year of high school, I remember one of my favorite things about having a computer was being able to use it to do the NCAA players’ points projections and print everything off instead of handwriting everything. I eventually got a place in one of my Father’s leagues and then started another draft with a group of my buddies. To this day, it is probably the most fun I have rooting for a fantasy league team.
Anyhow, I enjoy every aspect of the NCAA tournament and Selection Sunday marks the beginning of the greatest three weeks in sports. To this day, I still go up my parents’ house to watch Selection Sunday with my Old Man. We spent the better part of yesterday arguing about who should be seeded where while we watched the final conference tournament championships. I thought about this a great deal last night because the first People’s Baby is on the way and I, like every soon to be first-time father, really hope to have a son. I just hope one day my son enjoys watching Selection Sunday with me as much as I have enjoyed it with my Father. And I will certainly make sure Mom allows him to stay up for the late night games!
So what do I think of the Selection Committee’s job yesterday? Glad I asked myself, because I thought they did absolutely terrible! I will not get into my picks or expectations yet as work must be done before I discuss those, but strictly looking at what the committee did yesterday leaves me amazed.
Kansas, rightfully so, was named the #1 overall seed. For their reward, they were given Ohio State, Georgetown, Maryland and Michigan State in their region. Kentucky, the #2 overall seed, was rewarded a potential match-up with Texas in the second round, as well as West Virginia, Wisconsin, Temple, New Mexico and Marquette in their region. Meanwhile, Duke and Syracuse look to have clear paths to the Elite Eight and much easier potential match-ups with the #2 seeds in their regions, Kansas State and Villanova, respectively, if all of the top seeds hold serve. Meanwhile, worthy teams such as Illinois and Virginia Tech were left out of the field while underachievers like Florida slipped in. Overall, I thought the committee did a very poor job in their efforts this year.
Locally, however, Pitt has to be extremely pleased with their draw. In danger of dropping to a #4 seed, Pitt managed to receive a #3 seed out West with a match-up against Oakland in what should be an easy win. The winner of Xavier-Minnesota will await Pittsburgh in the second round, and while both could pose some problems, neither can be seen as an extremely tough match-up. Syracuse and Kansas State are the #1 and #2 seeds out West, and while both are good teams, it sure beats the alternatives of say Kansas and Ohio St. West Virginia, while I am sure is disappointed with a #2 seed, especially one that has them matched with Kentucky, should have a clear path to the Sweet Sixteen and a potential date with Marquette or New Mexico there. While WVU’s situation is not ideal, I think their overall draw is not too bad. Robert Morris also made the field and should feel extremely proud and lucky to grab a #15 seed instead of the doomed #16. Of course Bobby Mo will be extremely overmatched against Villanova in the first round, but they much rather face a team that has struggled of late then a surging #1 or #2 seed.
It was another great day yesterday, mainly because it means the NCAA Tournament and the best three weeks in sports starts up on Thursday. We have three local teams in the field, two of whom can be reasonably expected to make a strong run in the tournament. No matter how bad I thought the Selection Committee did yesterday, Selection Sunday remains one of my favorite days of the year!
Like every son imitating their father, I made my Dad copy me a blank bracket at his office (yes, copy machines were considered advanced technology then!) and would scribble down the selections with him as they came out. Being like four or five-years-old, I couldn’t write fast enough, however, and always had to copy the ones I missed from him after the show was over. At some point I got the great idea to make a big bracket on a large cardboard construction sheet, the kind you would always use to do a school project. I would spend the rest of the night making my large bracket with every team and seed in its proper position. I would hang the poster board in my room, updating the bracket everytime a team won. I think I paid more attention to detail in making this poster board bracket than anything I have ever done. I remember measuring out every little centimeter, but always ending up so mad when the bracket still came out crooked in the end because I have absolutely no artistic ability. I titled every bracket on top in big block letters, “COUNTDOWN TO (insert Final Four city here)”. I kept these brackets every year, probably doing this for seven or eight years before my little brother took over this duty. I think these poster board brackets are still at my parent’s house somewhere to this day, unless my Mom finally threw them away or gave them to my little sister to use for a school project. I also remember begging my Mom to stay up late to watch the late games on Thursday and Friday night, throwing temper tantrums that you wouldn’t believe. I should have known then that my love of sports, especially basketball, was a little crazy.
Selection Sunday also meant the first fantasy sports experience in my life. Long before fantasy football, fantasy baseball, hell, even fantasy nascar and golf exist today, my Dad and his friends had a fantasy league for the NCAA tournament. This is why it was essential for my Dad to have the bracket filled out during the Selection Show instead of waiting for Monday’s paper. He would spend all night Sunday, into the wee hours of the morning, giving each team a power ranking based on the number of games he expected them to play. He would then multiply this number by the number of points the guy averaged over his last ten games. (They got every team’s players and points per game average by ordering some book months in advance every year that had every possible team that could make the NCAA tournament, including all the bubble teams and even the very unlikely to make it teams to be safe). Remember, again, there were no computers or excel sheets. He wrote everything out, doing the math with a calculator and making two sheets, one organized by team and one with the players listed in order of projected total points. We’re talking over 300 players at least, you can see why this took him all night. He was then in two drafts, Tuesday night and Wednesday night, with two different groups of friends. I remember it being like Christmas to me, waking up the following morning and getting to see who he picked.
***Quick tangent on how to play the NCAA tournament fantasy game***
Let me quickly explain how the draft/game works for those that might want to try it with their own buddies. It’s a great way to have even more interest in the NCAA tournament and another reason to have a draft, the most fun part of any fantasy league. Get a group of friends together, my current league has 10 guys, and have a draft consisting of 20-25 rounds (snake-fashioned of course) depending how deep in the player pool you want to go. Players are eligible from every NCAA Tournament team and all players are active as long as their team remains in the NCAA field. The only stat that matters is points, so it is simple and everyone can understand it. When a player’s team is eliminated from the tournament, your player is eliminated and will no longer accumulate points for your team. The team with the most points in the end wins. We give out 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes. You will see as you build your league up that certain traditions and reoccurring themes start to develop. My Dad’s one league for example, started giving out $50 for the Don Redden award for the highest scoring pick after the 17th round. (Don Redden was the captain of the 1986 LSU team that reached the Final Four as a #11 seed. Redden passed away just two years later of heart disease, thus sparking the Don Redden award because he would always be mentioned as the greatest pick of the tournament draft). If anyone has any questions on how to play, feel free to drop me an email.
***Back to our regularly scheduled column***
When I was old enough to do math, I made a deal with my Dad that all he needed to do were his power rankings and I would do all of the math and all of the writing for a certain percentage of his winnings. Now it was like Christmas, Easter and my birthday morning all rolled into one when I woke up and got to see who “we” picked the night before. It gave me an even greater reason to watch every game of the tournament and root for our guys. When we got our first family computer in 1997, my freshman year of high school, I remember one of my favorite things about having a computer was being able to use it to do the NCAA players’ points projections and print everything off instead of handwriting everything. I eventually got a place in one of my Father’s leagues and then started another draft with a group of my buddies. To this day, it is probably the most fun I have rooting for a fantasy league team.
Anyhow, I enjoy every aspect of the NCAA tournament and Selection Sunday marks the beginning of the greatest three weeks in sports. To this day, I still go up my parents’ house to watch Selection Sunday with my Old Man. We spent the better part of yesterday arguing about who should be seeded where while we watched the final conference tournament championships. I thought about this a great deal last night because the first People’s Baby is on the way and I, like every soon to be first-time father, really hope to have a son. I just hope one day my son enjoys watching Selection Sunday with me as much as I have enjoyed it with my Father. And I will certainly make sure Mom allows him to stay up for the late night games!
So what do I think of the Selection Committee’s job yesterday? Glad I asked myself, because I thought they did absolutely terrible! I will not get into my picks or expectations yet as work must be done before I discuss those, but strictly looking at what the committee did yesterday leaves me amazed.
Kansas, rightfully so, was named the #1 overall seed. For their reward, they were given Ohio State, Georgetown, Maryland and Michigan State in their region. Kentucky, the #2 overall seed, was rewarded a potential match-up with Texas in the second round, as well as West Virginia, Wisconsin, Temple, New Mexico and Marquette in their region. Meanwhile, Duke and Syracuse look to have clear paths to the Elite Eight and much easier potential match-ups with the #2 seeds in their regions, Kansas State and Villanova, respectively, if all of the top seeds hold serve. Meanwhile, worthy teams such as Illinois and Virginia Tech were left out of the field while underachievers like Florida slipped in. Overall, I thought the committee did a very poor job in their efforts this year.
Locally, however, Pitt has to be extremely pleased with their draw. In danger of dropping to a #4 seed, Pitt managed to receive a #3 seed out West with a match-up against Oakland in what should be an easy win. The winner of Xavier-Minnesota will await Pittsburgh in the second round, and while both could pose some problems, neither can be seen as an extremely tough match-up. Syracuse and Kansas State are the #1 and #2 seeds out West, and while both are good teams, it sure beats the alternatives of say Kansas and Ohio St. West Virginia, while I am sure is disappointed with a #2 seed, especially one that has them matched with Kentucky, should have a clear path to the Sweet Sixteen and a potential date with Marquette or New Mexico there. While WVU’s situation is not ideal, I think their overall draw is not too bad. Robert Morris also made the field and should feel extremely proud and lucky to grab a #15 seed instead of the doomed #16. Of course Bobby Mo will be extremely overmatched against Villanova in the first round, but they much rather face a team that has struggled of late then a surging #1 or #2 seed.
It was another great day yesterday, mainly because it means the NCAA Tournament and the best three weeks in sports starts up on Thursday. We have three local teams in the field, two of whom can be reasonably expected to make a strong run in the tournament. No matter how bad I thought the Selection Committee did yesterday, Selection Sunday remains one of my favorite days of the year!
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