Thursday, March 31, 2011

Final Four

This years tournament has been better than advertised. Double digits seeds upset the major conferences teams and the best was yet to come. For the first time in the history of the tournament there are no No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Final Four. What we have is two mid-majors in VCU and Butler and two national powers in UConn and Kentucky. The amazing part is VCU was literally the last team to be entered into the tournament and they have beaten every team from the BCS conferences with only the SEC left, is the most amazing story. VCU got slammed for getting into the tournament, and rightfully so, but their run and toppling of the Big Boy schools is nothing short of remarkable. Consider this, the Rams have won their five games by an average of 12 points a game, with their closet being against Florida St. in the Sweet Sixteen. If VCU goes on and wins, I could totally see Hollywood coming in and making a movie about this.

Butler on the other hand has changed from a Cinderella into a national power. Think about this, Butler was 6-5 in the Horizon League in mid February and hasn't lost since. They have won all their games by a margin of 3 points a game. Gordon Heyward, widely considered the Bulldogs best player, was drafted 9Th overall in the NBA, and everyone figured the Bulldogs could win a game or two but not go back to the Final Four. Butler has not only proved that it can beat the BCS schools but now they are the Kings of the mid-majors but they have also dropped the Cinderella label because they are consistent. For all the talk about how strong the Gonzaga program is, the Zags have never made a Final Four. Butler on the other hand has made two. You may not like their style of play, which is gritty, tough and hard on the defensive end with ball movement on the offensive end, They truly do play like the team from the movie "Hoosiers",fundamentally sound which makes them tough to beat.

UConn has been on a mission since the beginning of the month. All this team has done is win 9 games in 19 days. Kemba Walker has led a young team to the Final Four. Not too many people thought the UConn would have the legs left to make it to the Final Four, but this team has proved all the naysayers wrong. Overlooked in the run has been the play of Jeremy Lamb. Lamb is a name people should remember because outside of Walker, he is the best pro prospect on the UConn team. Jim Calhoun has said that for his team to be successful they need Lamb to score along with Kemba. UConn beat Kentucky in Maui earlier this year but this is a different Wildcat team.
This Kentucky squad is not as talented as last year's team which had five first rounders. The biggest difference between this years version of super freshmen and last years is this, these guys listen to their coach. Calipari says last years team with Wall, Cousins and Bledsoe just relied on their talents and not on their coaches instructions. These Baby Cats not only are talented but they are coachable. And being open to coaching and committing to the defensive end has helped this young team reach the Final Four.

Mizzou Thoughts: I wouldn't be surprised if Mizzou AD Mike Alden was replaced. This year Mizzou was thought to be moving to the Big Ten and got shafted by Nebraska. Then Mike Anderson told everyone he wanted to be a Tiger for life only to leave 72 hours later for Arkansas. Next Matt Painter, Purdue coach, flirted with the job only to get more money from his Alma mater. All this was just this year under Alden. You have to take into consideration the Quin Snyder debacle. Alden has upgraded the facilities but has allowed his coaches to flirt with other schools and has not fostered good relationships with them. There is no reason that the Tigers program, which is nestled between two major cities should be treated as a second rate job. Eventually Alden will have to answer for his missteps, sooner rather than later.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Good Guy Of The Week


Its March and nothing says March more than an interview with one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Larry Bird recently did an interview with Dan Patrick and it was classic. In my mind there has never been a greater shooter than Larry Legend and you will see he is not lacking confidence. One of the greatest tournament runs in NCAA history was when Larry led Indiana St. to the Finals against Magic Johnson and and the Michigan St. Spartans. I highly recommend reading Seth Davis's book "When March Went Mad", if you love college basketball and hearing about Larry and Magic's views on each other. Hope you enjoy the in interview as much as I did.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Pittsburgh Basketball Is Like Ohio St. Football



Pitt Not Sweet Enough

When you ask most die-hard Ohio St. fans they will complain about how Tressel and his staff only recruit players just to win the Big Ten and not compete nationally. I have stated that many times as well when it talking about Buckeye football. The comparison can easily be made when it comes to Pittsburgh basketball. Pitt basketball is strictly built to win the Big East and not to win the NCAA tournament. Each year Pitt is ranked in the top ten and the last few years they have gotten a 1,2 or 3 seed only to be upset by a lower seed who is more balanced than them. Every Pitt team is built the same way. Stifling defense, rugged play and a few shooters. That style works in the rough and tumble Big East but it doesn't translate nationally where in a weekly two day tournament, they are easily exposed. I should have prefaced all this by saying that Butler played a spectacular game and their win should not be slighted. But in the end Pitt's lack of talent on a national level hurt them. All Butler did was have one of their guards have a career day and the rest of the guys hit their regular numbers. Pitt's lack of scoring punch as well as tight refereeing, always seems to doom the Panthers in the end. All that said, that last 9 seconds was unbelievable. Never seen an ending like that in all my many years of watching college basketball. If you are Pitt fan all I can say is the same thing I tell my Buckeye friends, Enjoy your confrence titles because natinal championships are not in your future.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

March Madness Teams and Tips


Here is the conference breakdown of teams to watch and to stay away from as you make your pick:

Big East
Teams to watch: UConn (Kemba Walker could be player of the year. They played well early, slumped in the middle and now are coming on strong.) Louisville (might Pitino's best coaching job in a while) Syracuse (a closer in the making in Scoop Jardine) Pitt (can score a little better but I'm not fully sold on them) St. Johns (10 seniors and Lavin can coach them up)
Team to stay away from: Notre Dame (although they have a lot of seniors, they were atrocious on the road. They will get to sweet 16 but I doubt any farther) Villanova (they collapsed at the end of the season) Georgetown, (lost their starting point guard) Cincy, Marquette and West Virginia.

Big Ten
Teams to watch: Ohio State (the most complete team in the country) Wisconsin (love the senior leadership and they have a closer in PG Jordan Taylor) Purdue (two studs in E'twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson, sleeper Final Four pick) Michigan St. (looked dead in the water but Izzo has got them righted and they always perform well in March)
Teams to stay away from: Michigan, Illinois, and Penn St.

Big 12
Teams to watch: Texas (playing awful the last couple of weeks) Texas A&M(senior leadership) Kansas (although they are here, just know the Jayhawks play when they want to and in the end will get beat by a team that they would normally crush. Plus they have issues at the PG position) Kansas St. (got hot at the right time and has a superior player in Jacob Pullen
Teams to stay away from: Mizzou (horrible on the road, do not play with any urgency)

ACC
Teams to watch: North Carolina (started slowly and now they are coming on like gangbusters) Duke (will get to the Sweet 16 but not any farther. Very perimeter oriented)
Teams to stay away from: Clemson, Florida St.

SEC
Teams to watch: Vanderbilt (great shooters and good inside game) Florida ( a stud in Chandler Parsons, who is a matchup nightmare and Donovan can coach) Kentucky (although they are young very talented plus Calipari knows how to get the best out of his players)
Teams to stay away from: Georgia

Pac-10
Teams to watch: Arizona (honestly only reason I'm picking them is there staring guard has the same name as me. Derrick Williams is good but this team is young and the conference is bad). Washington (They can flat out score and they play up tempo. Have a star and closer in Isiah Thomas, no relation to the other Thomas)
Teams to stay away from: UCLA, USC

Best Of The Rest (Teams that can win a game or two)
Belmont(they play 11 guys and can score and score and score), Oakland(senior-laden and not afraid to play anyone, beat Tennessee in Knoxville), ODU (seniors), George Mason, Utah State(great inside-outside combination, experienced players and coach)

Mid-Majors Who Could Make The Final Four (This years Butler Bulldogs)

BYU(If you haven't seen Jimmer play, trust me he is as good as advertised), San Diego St.(Kawhi Leonard is a terrific basketball player and the Aztecs are really solid)
This year college basketball has a lot of parity. If the NCAA tournament is 3/4 as exciting as the conference tourney's have been then we are in store for another wild and memorable March.

March Madness Changes And Bracket Challenge

If you know me then you know that I think the greatest postseason we have is the NCAA Men's basketball tournament. Upsets, Cinderella's, great stories and pure excitement. The best postseason in all of sports. This year I am going to give a conference breakdown of teams to watch and teams to stay away from as you make your picks. Also, I'll provide insight on teams that are lesser known that could make a sweet 16 or Elite 8 run (the key word is could:). First up is a slight change that I don't know if a lot of people are aware of. The tournament actually starts on Tuesday and there is no play-in game. The field is now 68, no longer 64. The Tuesday and Wednesday games will feature the four teams who are the last four to get in. For instance, Michigan St could be matched against Boston College and Alabama could face UTEP. All the games will not be on CBS. If you have satellite of cable, you will be able to go to a game you want to watch, not just stick with the game in your region. TruTV, TNT, TBS and CBS will each have their games as well as studio shows. You have NBA guys calling the game like Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. This is a format I am looking forward to because I hated waiting until the station switched to the exciting game or upset in the making. This new format gives the viewer the control on where to watch. You can also watch the tourney online for free at March Madness On Demand (very good if you have to work).

As I stated this is the second year of my bracket challenge that is serviced through USA Today. The league name is Momo's Tourney Mania and password is tourney. I welcome everyone to sign up.

My conference breakdown will be tomorrow after the brackets are released.

Thanks for reading....

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

There Is No Crying In Basketball


Heat Melting

The Miami Heat have lost 5 in a row and the NBA world is loving it. Opposing players are calling the Heat soft for crying after their loss on Sunday to the Bulls. Wade and James looked dejected at the post game press conferences. What happening with this team is simple. The best closer on the team is not getting the ball. LeBron James is taking the final shots and its hurting the team. I have always said the second best closer in the league behind Kobe Bryant. D-Wade is not being used correctly and is the one making the biggest sacrifice as noted by
Yahoo Sports. The unquestioned leader of the Miami Heat should be and is Dwyane Wade. Wade is deferring to LeBron in late game situations. Erik Spoelstra is designing plays to get LeBron looks and not Wade. Everyone is forgetting who has the championship, the Finals MVP, and the pedigree at the end of games. All signs point to D-Wade taking charge and righting the ship. We will see if the right guy closes the game in the future.
Later this week I'll post the link to my March Madness page as well as who to pick and who to stay away from.