20 things you won't find in the Andy Katz blog!

1. Roy Williams eating a Candy Cane given to him by Blue-Blood Santa. Picture coming soon!!! A Roy Candy Cane commercial next? He is already in the "business" after the Coca Cola commercial. Nothing like Coke and Candy Cane for that special sugar/caffeine rush ;-) And Roy still won't look at the scoreboard. During the half-time interview of the UNC-Asheville game, Roy said "they told me they cut the lead". But Ole Roy keeps winning, so what do I know? :-)

2. New term (for me) used by Rick Majerus: A 180-man, referring to a player whose combined percentage of Free Throws, Field Goals and Three pointers is at least 180. Majerus gave examples of these: Reggie Miller and Jeff Hornacek. For example, 90% free throw shooting, 45% field goal shooting, and 45% three-point shooting. Not easy to achieve :-)

3. Derek Raivio has been called a "paperboy" because he looks like a little kid. And sometimes he plays like one. But more often he is a gamer. I am sure if Dick Vitale does a Gonzaga game he will go for the "Derek Ravioli", and then go into his "ravioli, linguini, panini, etc" routine!

4. Karma? Rick Pitino made his name in the late 80s with three point shooters. Now it's coming back to haunt him as his team can't buy a three. The game against Kentucky an obvious example on a national level

5. Meet the Georgia Bulldogs!. Beating Gonzaga will do wonders for a team's national reputation. This probably put Georgia back on the map nationally. This was the first game I saw Georgia play, and haven't seen them since (because they are not shown on TV), and I was impressed. A deep and versatile team, with lots of guards and five bigs, a couple of which have a high ceiling (and a couple who can't get off the floor). But I digress...

6. Thank you daddy! said Tony Bennett and Sean Sutton in unison. Thank you for hanging around last year and taking the blows of a so-and-so season, so when I take over, I will have a better chance of being successful. Daddy knows best!

7. And continuing from #6, Tony Bennett has worked miracles with most of the same players as Dick Bennett's team. Same can be said for Mike Anderson and the fast/exciting style of play compared to Quinn "bad hairday everyday" Snyder. Which shows how a coach can ruin a team's and a player's potential!

8. UNC Asheville has two seven-footers. Yes two of them. One starts and plays with shot-blocking being his specialty. The second one is none other than 7'7" Kenny George who is battling injuries and such. He can dunk standing up. He can probably dunk by bending his knees while still on the ground. A small mid-major has two seven-footers. How many do the high majors have? :-)

9. Random factoid: Tywon Lawson collects (or collected) Pokemon cards.

10. Majerus on UCLA's Jordan Farmar: addition by subtraction. Majerus has said this more than once...

11. ESPN Graphics Department please get some Basketball IQ! When Tennessee beat Oklahoma State in Nashville, Tennessee, the screen was flashing "Tennessee upsets #14 Oklahoma State". Come on! That was not an upset!. Please ask Jay Bilas or Rick Majerus to give you the defintion of an upset. You broadcast hundreds of basketball games every year. You should know better!

12. Mega props to Omni Smith of Kent State for a great performance against Duke!

13. Coincidence or not? The top two recruiting classes of 2006 went to North Carolina and Ohio State. Both teams play a fast, fun, and exciting style of play. Coincidence or not?

14. UConn is undefeated in both men's and women's hoops. Random factoid of some interest perhaps?

15. Capitalize on "coaching heat" while the iron is hot. Randy Bennett of St Mary's is still "Randy from the block", but two years after StMary was a national darling and Gonzaga contender, he is just another mid-major coach on the national scene.

16. Doug Gotleib was caught by the ESPN+ cameras during the StMarys vs UConn game. He was scouting UConn for his next game, along with his wife and the newborn twins. Congratulations!

17. Is it me or does Bob Wenzel has some resemblance in appearance and voice to W?

18. Is it me or does anyone else find Tim Brando's voice annoying?

19. Sign of a cluessless or unprepared play by play guy: He calls the name of a player by looking at the roster of the opposing team. This shows how little they know about the players since they can only distinguish them by jersey numbers.

20. Turnaround Tom is modelling his oaf-fense (offense in non-Majerus speak) after the Phoenix Suns. But it's effective only when the shots are falling...