Final Four Semifinals recap
Arron Afflalo joins Aaron Gray in the first team All-Overrated!
Thank you Florida for saving the game of basketball from the disgraceful style of play (foul on every play) of Ben Howland.
Ben Howland once again disgraces the UCLA legacy with a total anti-basketball slugfest. Yes, there is a good reason there defense is so good: they foul on every possession, every hedge, they push under the basket, etc, etc... Is FireBenHowland.com up and running?
Chevy Player and Coach of the year (no shocker, both can sing): Kevin Duran(t) Duran(t) and Tony Bennett. Can CBS make that award ceremony any more dry and scripted?
Vote for your favorite plays and the winner puts some cash into your favorite school's general scholarship fund at ncaasports.com/pontiac.
By the numbers
Strange Stat: This is the first time since 1998 that no more than one team per conference participates in the Final Four.
Number of Final Fours: This a bit surpring, since Ole Roy gave NC the lead when he won it all in 2005. However, UCLA managed to leapfrog the Tar Heels with two back-to-back Final Fours. Meanwhile the Final Four drought at both Duke and Kentucky continues, while Bill Self has also failed to deliver, even though he had at least two teams that were Final Four ready (2004, 2007). Watch out, Ohio State is gonna be there every year. Thad Matta as I mentioned right after he was hired by the Buckeyes is the next big star in coaching...
1. UCLA 17
2. North Carolina 16
3. Duke 14
4. Kentucky 13
5. Kansas 12
6. Ohio State 10
Winningest coaches in their first seven years
1. Mark Few, 188 (he won more than a ...few)
2. Everett Case, 187
3. Ole Roy (Roy Williams), 184
4. Thad Matta, 183; this is his seventh year, he will get to 184 if he beats Florida in the final on Monday. And if it wasn't for the zebras giving Duke all the 50-50 calls in the 2004 Elite 8 game (Xavier vs Duke), he would have had at least one more win.
Why UCLA must lose: for the good of the game UCLA's unwatchable slugfest style of play is bad for the game. Really bad. As the Wizard of Westwood has repeatedly said, basketball is a finesse game. A game of skill, talent and preparation, not bodybuilding, weightlighting, streetfighting, and wrestling... UCLA has turned the game into a defensive slugfest interrupted by occasional fastbreaks. Even with a blazing fast point guard like Darren Collison, UCLA still plays slow. UCLA's running is deceptive, most of the times they run not to score, but to force the opposing players to scramble to run back to defense... Coaches are copycats and the continued success of this style of play at UCLA will only increase the number of imitators. And that would be bad for the game. So for the good of the game, UCLA must lose today... Fans and bloggers are not exactly the guardians of the game, but if the coaches don't police themselves, someone else has to point them to the obvious... I loved Pete Gillan's tirade today on CSTV, with "I am tired of UCLA's defense", and "they put scoreboards to score", and "fans wants to see scoring". He has said what a lot of other analysts (*cough* espn *cough*) have been hinting at while not being brave enough to say it out loud for fear of offending. Big props to Pete Gillen!
Race Issues
Some of the Georgetown players mentioned during the press conferences that some people may have been questioning whether the Princeton offense would succeed at Georgetown because of the race of the players running it
Wilborn of PTI thinks there are some underlying race issues when everyone thinks that players want to jump to the NBA for the money and don't enjoy/want to stay in college. His case in point was all the cynicism regarding Kevin Durant's decision.
Tourney Talk
Another great piece by CBS's Clark Kellogg in a very interesting and very candid interview with the two Thompsons (Big John, and Three Sticks (to borrow a Jim Rome phrase once again)... Of course some cynics may try to find a link between Patrick Ewing's complaints that his son didn't get enough playing time earlier on, and Mark Egerson transfering out.
TV note: The "10 greatest college shooters" special on CBS that was pre-empted because of tennis has been rescheduled for 2pm ET on May 13, 2007. Now that's what I call long-term planning on the fly!
Great piece by CBS (The Final Four Show) on USC's Ryan Francis.
Men's Final Four Predictions: Florida beats UCLA, still can't pick between Ohio State and Georgetown. Florida will be the national champion regardless.
Some espn video game dude's simulations picked Florida as well
Women's Final Four Predictions: Sylvia Fowles owns the paint, LSU wins and loses in the final to the winner of North Carolina and Tennessee. I predict Tennessee wins in an instant classic for the games, a triple overtime up and down extravaganza, and Candance Parker gets a triple double.
In a recent interview with Chris Meyers, John Wooden said he would like to see
all teams play in the NCAA. Interesting...
Big Brother (Myles Brand of the NCAA) has hinted at the possibility of a 68 team tourney. I guess Boeheim's whining didn't fall on deaf ears. But if the tourney is expanded to 68, please make sure the two opening around games are between at-large teams!. It would be totally unfair to put the four lowest mid-majors to square off, while mediocre "bcs" teams who refuse to play road games (SYRACUSE) get in.
Big Brother also talked about an NFL-draft-like rule. I don't think restricting players to three years in college is a good idea. While most of the players would benefit from this, it would be unfair to restrict them. Take someone like LeBron: He had to either go to college for three years or zero. Or even take Oden or Durant or Brandan Wright: They may have opted for the NBA because they didn't want to commit to three years in college.
On the other hand, the lack of college basketball experience perhaps may explain why LeBron is unable to deliver in clutch situations. The pressures of a college season, such as the single-elimination NCAA games and conference tourney games can be very helpful in getting a player to learn how to perform in such situations.
Florida's Walter Hodge on John Wooden: "that old dude". Memo to the NCAA: You should create a one-credit course in the history of college basketball that all college basketball players must take!
Coach Talk & Carousel
Seth Davis: South Florida interviewed Stan Heath, and Iowa will take a look at Dana Altman next week, which may throw some water on the Rick Majerus rumors.
Andy Katz says Chris Lowery is going to be re-upped and stay put at SIU.
Andy Katz says Kevin O'Neil is likely to be the next South Florida coach. Gottleib: "He is a grinder, but he can certainly coach on the defensive end".
Rece Davis is turning into a name-dropper: "When I talked to Donovan's agent...". Okay Rece, we know, you have arrived :-)
Vitale is propagating the Billy Donovan to the Memphis Grizzlies rumor.
Bill Walton calls on the NCAA to increase the number of fouls to six. I strongly agree!
This just in: Philip is in! According to the LA Times, Phil Jackson got in the Basketball Hall of Fame. The list of candidates and my predictions on the hall of fame at the Hall of Fame IN or OUT? post.
Don't miss the Sunday Outside the Lines (630amPT/930amET) on ESPN as it has (yet another) feature on the one and only Bob Knight. I name this one, "the softer side of Sears". (ooops, the softer side of Bob Knight)...
Kentucky Coaching Idol 2007
Vitale says that Donovan wouldn't move because his inlaws recently moved to Florida. But wait Dickie V, isn't that a good reason to get out?
Vitale continues to whine about the Tubby Smith situation (unbelievable 26.3 wins, etc, etc) but he still fails to understand why that was not good enough for Kentucky).
Billy Donovan to Kentucky continues to be a story bigger than the games. Part of it of course is Billy the Kid refusing to make any definite comments and instead saying things like "I don't have my phone".
The internet has provided new ways for fans and player's families to interact: The father of Kentucky's promising freshman guard Jodie Meeks posted at a message board to let UK fans know that his son was not thinking of transfering out after Tubby Smith transfered out to the TimberGophers.
Funny or Not?
Quotable Pete Gillan: "he has the poise of a riverboat gambler". "during my last year at Virginia my zone offense was ludacris that's why I got fired", "defense is what you put around the house to keep the cats and dogs in".
I can't help it but call the interim LSU coach "Porky". Not sure why :-) But he has done a great job in not only keeping the team together, but also allowing them to focus on the game and make it to the NCAA Final Four. I nominate "Porky" for coach of the year!
Make sure you block the Discovery Channel today if you have kids!. The Dirty Rat (Coach K) will be polluting the airwaves with his "don't practice what you preach" BS-ology in his "Center Court with Coach K" special. Please protect your kids from the brainwashings of this insane and out of control basketball coach who drains the life force out of his players. Protect your kids now!
Memo to Ben Howland: Please stop calling the "NCAA" "NC2A". You are the last remaining person who does that. So in return, I will be calling you Ben Holland, until you start saying "NCAA", not "NC2A".
Be careful ESPN when you schedule Jimmy Dykes to do women's games, his name may be perceived the wrong way ;-)
Matta on Oden/Conley communication: "better than husband/wife".
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