March 2009 - Posts
Final Four teams never lack for talent, and this year’s no exception. Connecticut, Michigan State, North Carolina and Villanova all feature deep, balanced roster sprinkled with future NBA players.
The coaches read like a who’s who in college hoops. Jim Calhoun, Tom Izzo, Roy Williams and Jay Wright all have won national coach of the year awards. Combined, they have 16 Final Four berths and four NCAA tournament titles.
But the real driving force behind these teams is at the point. Kalin Lucas, Ty Lawson, A.J. Price and Scottie Reynolds comprise four of the game’s best floor generals. They score, pass, defend (to varying degrees) and are all touted as true team leaders.
Even better? They’ve been at their best in the Big Dance.
Here’s a closer look at each player’s strengths, weaknesses and what it means for the Final Four.
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John Calipari compiled some ridiculous numbers the last four years at Memphis: 137 victories; 61 consecutive conference victories; 4 regular-season titles; 4 conference tournament titles.
Among non-power leagues, it’s a run worthy of Jerry Tarkanian’s heyday at UNLV. Calipari established himself as the outsider making life uncomfortable for the big boys in the BCS conferences.
But for Kentucky fans, here are the numbers that matter most if Coach Cal does sign on in Lexington.
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Michigan State’s impressive win against Louisville gives Tom Izzo a chance at the ultimate prize: Coaching at Kentucky.
OK, there’s a little sarcasm in there.
Izzo’s going to be focused beating Connecticut and trying to win a second NCA tournament title. But rest assured you’ll hear Izzo’s name mentioned as possibly the next coach in Lexington more than once this week.
Billy Gillispie’s ouster in Lexington has the rumor mill in full swing. Nearly every big-name coach – except for Billy Donovan – seems to be a candidate. Izzo, Villanova’s Jay Wright, Pitt’s Jamie Dixon, Texas’ Rick Barnes and Memphis’ John Calipari are chief among them.
So what's it all mean?
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If you could design the perfect finish to an NCAA tournament game, it’d probably feature Tyus Edney – or Danny Ainge, depending on your generation – making a mad dash the length of the floor, or Bryce Drew and Valparaiso, winning off an in-bounds play that had a little trickery.
Or, it could have a little of both. Just like Villanova’s classic 78-76 victory against No. 1 Pittsburgh in the East Regional final.
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Whoa, we’re to this point again? Already?
Didn’t we just do this dance with Billy Donovan and a handful of other coaches two years ago? How did Billy Gillispie wear out his welcome so fast in Lexington?
Can things really be this bad in Kentucky?
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By nearly any measure, Memphis had one of the nation’s top defenses.
Key word: had. Missouri ran by that defense, and then some.
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Time to start a tradition. Isn't that what March is about?
Instead of me tossing more predictions out there for the Sweet 16, I'll turn to two tried and tested prognosticators: Las Vegas and Ken Pomeroy's computer.
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Pick a Sweet 16 game, any game. It’ll have an elite coach on the sidelines.
Seven of the 16 have already won NCAA tournament titles. Six have been to multiple Final Fours. Ten are among the winningest active coaches. Four are already in the basketball Hall of Fame. All but three have been to the Sweet 16 before.
No wonder Cinderella couldn't stay long this year.
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Wyoming center Adam Waddell made the dunk of the year last week, but not in a good way.
Surely you've seen it by now. During the Cowboys' CBI game against Northeastern, Waddel stole the ball at the top of the key, dribbled full speed and took off from just outside the circle for a dunk.
Except he forgot to let go. The ensuing dunk/flip was impressive enough for a national TV appearance.
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Finding this year’s Stephen Curry is easy.
The player capable of single-handedly carrying his team deep into the NCAA tournament and wowing onlookers also happens to be the favorite for player of the year and the slam-dunk pick for No. 1 in this year’s NBA draft. Yeah, that's Blake Griffin.
But he's not the only one who could have a huge Sweet 16.
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It’s déjà vu all over again.
Last year featured a Sweet 16 filled with powerhouse teams who piled up wins like never before. All four 1 seeds, three 2 seeds and three 3 seeds were in the 2007 Sweet 16.
But this year’s ridiculous Sweet 16 – all four 1, 2 and 3 seeds advanced, along with two 4s and a 5 – created the predictable “The sky is falling in Cinderellas’s head!” responses.
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What happened, ACC?
You used to rule the 64-team NCAA tournament. Your six titles since the tourney expanded in 1985 is more than any other league. You placed at least one school in the Final Four 17 times between 1985 and 2005. You sent at least two teams to the Sweet 16 for 15 straight years.
The last four tournaments have been a different story.
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Western Kentucky provided Thursday’s only real upset in the NCAA tournament, but the Hilltoppers were far from the only storyline.
With Memphis’ early drama, Jim Calhoun’s absence and American’s Garrison Carr trying to do a Stephen Curry impersonation, there wasn’t a reason to turn off the TV, or the online streaming.
Here’s a rundown of the Big Dance’s opening day, and a snippet at what’s to come Friday.
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It hasn’t been an easy year for Jim Calhoun. He’s dealt with injuries to a key player, re-instatement drama and the whole press conference brouhaha.
Yet, in an odd way, Connecticut just got a good omen to open the NCAA tournament.
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Nobody’s perfect.
Keep that in mind when checking your NCAA tournament brackets the next few week. When you shake your head over missing that upset “you knew would happen” don’t fret. When that 12 seed makes a run to the Sweet 16, just keep this in mind.
The odds of picking a perfect bracket are 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1.
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President Obama isn’t much different from me, and a good number of other hoops fans – at least when it comes to filling out his NCAA tournament bracket.
He picks a few upsets, but relies on the top seeds when it comes to choosing a Final Four. And his champ? Also no stunner.
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So, you’ve spent the past two days pouring over every bit of info related to the NCAA tournament. You’ve scoured the Web sites, the blogs, the newspapers (or not), listened to the radio, watch the TV and talked with friends about your bracket.
And now, here you are, still agonizing over which 5 seed will lose first, if North Carolina can win with an ailing Ty Lawson, and just which mid-major is the most likely to make a run.
It’s a bear, right? Here’s some help.
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Another year, another Selection Sunday. Now the real fun begins.
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After four days of upsets and bubble busting, Sunday may be the most dramatic NCAA tournament prelude in years. Who’s in? Who’s out? Who are the 1s? How will it all shake out when the brackets are announced at 6 p.m. ET?
This one would stump Nostradamus.
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Thursday wasn’t kind to would-be No. 1 seeds. Pitt lost to West Virginia. Oklahoma State upended Oklahoma. And Syracuse outlasted UConn – in near-record fashion five overtimes.
The upsets created a flurry of discussion about each team’s likelihood about grabbing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and, if the Panthers, Sooners and Huskies were no longer worthy of a top spot, which teams should take their place.
The reason everyone focuses on those No. 1 teams is because those are the teams most likely to win it all.
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Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie likes to say he has the best job in the world. He might be right.
The Wildcats’ tradition, facilities and devoted fan base is like few other programs in college hoops. They’re the reason the state bleeds blue.
The flip side: It might be the toughest job in college hoops, too.
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Davidson’s NCAA tournament hopes – along with every other bubble team -- took a hit Tuesday when Cleveland State stunned No. 16 Butler in the Horizon League championship game.
But on a brighter note, we did one get one big-time scorer from a mid-major into the tournament.
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Bubble talk dominates Championship Week. Automatic bids and No. 1 seeds are right behind, leading up to Selection Sunday.
Where does that leave the other NCAA tournament teams? Specifically, where does it leave these six teams that are worth another look when filling out your bracket.
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My Sunday lament continues…
Davidson, last season’s NCAA tournament Cinderella story, lost Sunday to College of Charleston in the Southern Conference tournament, putting a huge crimp in the Wildcats’ Big Dance hopes.
At 26-7, the ‘Cats could earn an at-large bid, but several factors are conspiring against them.
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One of my most vivid March Madness memories revolves around offense. Insane amounts of offense.
It was 1988. Wyoming was 26-5, had everyone back from a Sweet 16 run the year before, including future NBA players in Fennis Dembo – he of the Sports Illustrated cover – and Eric Leckner. But the Cowboys were blitzed by 10th-seeded Loyola Marymount in the first round of the NCAA tournament, 119-115 (still the second-most points ever scored by a losing team in the Big Dance).
Yes, those Lions, the team that spent the next two years trying to score 200 points in a game and led D-I in scoring in ’88, ’89 and 1990. The team that blitzed defending champ Michigan 149-115 in 1990. The kind of team we haven’t seen since.
Which brings me to this season. Sadly, the current version of the Lions just missed on a chance to go dancing.
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The Madness is here.
Tuesday kicked off 13 glorious days of college basketball tournaments. Nearly 300 teams are vying for 31 automatic bids to the NCAA tournament awarded to conference tourneys champions. (That includes the Ivy League, which doesn’t hold a tourney, but gives its bid to the regular-season champ).
Those who don’t win place their fate with the seeding committee on Selection Sunday when the field of 65 is announced at roughly 6 p.m. ET. Most know these tourneys are their only shot at going dancing.
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Time to find out how good the Sooners really are.
The No. 4 Sooners travel to Columbia – where they haven’t won since 2003 – for a huge showdown against No. 15 Missouri. If they win, they remain in the running for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and mathematically still in the hunt for the Big 12 title.
If they lose … well, that’s three losses in the last four games and the regular-season finale against surging Oklahoma State looming three days later. Good luck getting a No. 1 seed with that kind of finish.
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We hit some random college basketball milestones in the last few days. Tyler Hansbrough, Stepehen Curry, Herb Magee (yes, Herb Magee) all reached some kind of plateau, to say nothing of UConn, UNC and more.
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This is getting ridiculous.
Kansas lost six key players, including every starter -- more than 80 percent of its scoring and rebounding – from last season’s national title team. Yet after Sunday’s 90-65 throttling of No. 10 Missouri, here the Jayhawks stand, on the cusp of their fifth straight regular-season Big 12 title.
They’ve done it with five freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors, one of which was a JUCO transfer. Only Sherron Collins saw any serious playing time during last year’s 37-3 run. Cole Aldrich, the sophomore rebounding machine, saw spot time here and there.
Who’da thunk it? Not even the players knew they were headed for a 24-5 overall record and 13-1 in league play.
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