Recap of the last block of games

The NCAA must be worried. They sent a secret memo to the zebras instructing them to call six fouls against Binghampton in the first three minutes of the game. Yes, you read right! Six fouls in the first three minutes, that's like two fouls per minute. Just to make sure that their starters get in foul trouble and their game plan is derailed, giving the Dookies a must better chance at winning and giving CBS some good ratings in the next rounds :)

But that's okay, AJ Abrams and space-eater Pittman will be waiting the Dookies on Saturday and hopefully Texas will beat Duke!

The most exciting games were probably the two games that many had circled on their calendars, and it is no coincidence CBS scheduled them at the end of the day, in order to bring in a bigger audience.

VCU looked toast after the first half, but slowly and steadily they chipped away at UCLA, and they came very close, oh-so-close, one jump shot close to pulling yet another NCAA tourney upset. We tip our hats to the VCU Rams! Their 2007 victory over the Dookies will remain priceless through the centuries. And that Larry Sanders dude is gonna make some big bucks when he goes professional!

The other dramatic game was Western Kentucky's "how to guide" on falling apart and losing a game you had already won. A bad out-of-bounds call by the zebras did not help the Hilltoppers but ultimately they managed to hold on to dear life and make it to the second round where they'll face SoftZaga but not GoneZaga.

Pettigrew was the one who solidified the victory for W.Ky from the free throw line. He was 1 of 4 from the line, but at a very critical juncture at the end of the game he went 2 from 2, giving his team a breathable margin.

We keep pounding the selection committee for picking all these ugly and undeserving Big Ten teams, and once again, Illinois without Chester Frasier was clearly not a #5 seed. In-fact, they were probably not a #5 seed with him. But without him, were they really a better team than St Mary's with Patty Mills?

And since we are back to St Mary's, we would like to politely tell the NCAA selection committee with its clueless chairman who doesn't even know college hoops has an exhibition season: F-U NCAA SELECTION COMMITTEE OF 2009. YOU SCREWED UP THE MID-MAJORS for the sake of crappy Big-Ten teams (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois).

The fourth game of the nightcap was Oklahoma playing the "reformed" Todd Bozeman club. The most dramatic part of that game was a wild wrestling move on Blake Griffin. Just like the NFL protects quarterbacks and the NBA protects star players, the NCAA should come in and hand out big punishments to "thuggish" moves like that, so as to discourage future recurrence. By "big" we mean long suspensions, not just a slap on the wrist with an ejection. We mean blocks of games, like 10 or more games! This is not the NHL or WWF/WWE!

LIVE: Indiana at Illinois just went to second overtime

Drop everything and turn on ESPN now! Indiana and Illinois have just starter their second overtime! Lots of drama in this game, narrated by Rece Davis, Jay Bilas and Pat Forde (yes, he is venturing into ESPN national games now). Currently 3 minutes left in OT #2 with the Hoosiers up by one point!

Shaun Pruitt could have won the game at the end of overtime #1 but he missed two free throws!

Oh my! Eric Gordon gets a 10-second backcourt violation with 24 seconds left, while something is thrown towards the friends and family of Eric Gordon in the stands. Oh my!!!

Arizona at Illinois

Fate plays funny games on us. Consider this: In March 2005, Arizona played Illinois in Chicago (Allstate arena) in the Elite 8. Arizona jumped to a commanding lead, almost everyone thought the game was over, but Illinois made a miraculous comeback and sent the game into overtime. Once into overtime the Fighting Illinis grabbed the W by the horns.

Fast forward to today, Arizona plays Illinois in Chicago again, this time the United Center of the Jordan Bulls. This time Illinois jumps ahead, Arizona makes a surprising comeback, send the game into overtime, and grabs the W by the horns in OT!

This is not the first time we saw a tale of two halves from Arizona (Texas A&M, Virginia, home-cupcakes). It looks like perhaps Kevin O'Neill is finally making a dent in the department of toughness.

Nic "Hoops" Wise showed up as the player everyone thought he would be when he came in highly touted (and chubby) out of high school. The new and improved Nic Wise found himself in this game as he, along with Jordan Hill were the main reasons why Arizona stayed relatively close and made the comeback.

Speaking of big men, Illinois's Shaun Pruitt also had a solid game, and has managed to transform himself from a clumsy freshman into a solid Big 10 center. Trent Meecham had his shooting moments at clutch situations, but he is a bit too "mid-majorish" to be a starting guard at Illinois. And there is perhaps good reason for that, Bruce Weber was supposed to have Eric Gordon. Another player who had some solid moments was Calvin Brock, he is the player with the face that can get away with pulling pranks on everybody ;-)

This was the first Arizona game without Lute Olson. Check our yesterday' post on his sabbatical, and the original post of his "indefinite leave of absence".

More on this game from ABC27 News, Scout.com forums, fightingillini.com, and Go Cats Forums.

PS> I forgot to mention the time-out Nic "Hoops" Wise called at the end of regulation but the zebras decided not to decide the game C-Webb style and instead pretended they didn't see it. Obviously Illini fans can point out that that should have been a standard-issue technical, with Illinois shooting two free throws and likely winning the game in regulation!

Duke vs Illinois

As much as I dislike the Dukies, I have to confess that with the help of the zebras, the NCAA and the announcers they look like they could be a very good team this year. Which will make Duke losses even more exciting and fulfilling :) Meanwhile the Fighting Bruce Webers...



... continue to impress me. While they lost to Duke by double figures, the game was much closer than the final score because of their offensive "spurtability". I am voting for the Fightning Illinois for next week's BlogPoll Top 25! More on them from the Daily Illini Sports blog and Figthing Illini.com.

The Dookie side of the story can be found at Duke Illustrated (Rivals). An independent account of the game from CSTV. Certainly this Duke is not like the 2006-2007 team, they have more depth and more talent. But what is also emerging is the real reason why Coach K wanted the Team USA job: so he and his three helpers can upgrade their coaching skills by working with other coaches. So they picked up offense from Mike D'Antoni, and they picked up defense from (gasp) Jim Boeheim, their "Orange" zone defense. That explains why all three of his assistants went with him. Of course the official reason was that they would be running drills and such, sure, sure, because four basketball coaches with almost 100 years of basketball head-coaching experience and more as assistants do not know how to run drills :) If you want more from the Duke side of the story, check the Just Duke blog.

On the court, the Dookies look like a formidable opponent, not only because they get most of the 50-50 calls, but because they are talented and versatile and deep. While DeMarcus Nelson is the only Duke I do not dislike at the moment, they have plenty of good or good enough players to win a lot of games. Singler is an impact player, who may not be as loud as the other freshman with his game or his style, but he can get things done. Henderson, yes the broken nose guy, is another solid wing. Zoubek gives them an option to play bigger if they have to. And the list goes on and on and on.

And one parting shot for the Xs and Os fans, Coach Bruchu diagrams Duke's Zone Buster play. Coach Bruchu's blog is an excellent resource for players, fans, coaches, and everyone interested in the Xs and Os of basketball!

Arizona State vs Illinois

The Arizona State players were zoned out, not because they were playing zone defense, but because they looked really zoned out when Illinois kept them scoreless for a few days. Illinois fans have a lot to celebrate, they may not have Derrick Rose and Eric Gordon, but it looks like they have a team with a capital T, and a rotation that apparently can go 15-deep or so.



The Sons of the NBA game, with McMillan and Michael Jordan's son playing was nowhere near a close game. Defense took over at times, and defense prevailed.

Herb Sendek may have improved the talent level of the team, but this was only game one of the season for them, and it showed. Will the struggles of last year continue or was this just growing pains of the first game of the season against a solid and deep Illinois team? The answer, or at part of the answer, will be known by Wednesday night, where the Sun Devils will have played against Princeton and then against LSU or Chaminade. More on this game from a local impartial observer, the Honolul Advertiser.

lllinois was cruising along, and now they are getting ready to beat Duke! Go Bruce Weber! Go Fighting Illini! Beat the Pukies! It will be interesting to see how the Illinois depth can affect the Dookies. Bruce Weber doesn't often get a chance to play the big wigs, and this is a great chance for him to get a notch against Coach K. This will be an interesting battle from a coaching perspective, the unassuming Average Joe Coach (Bruce Weber) vs the Pope of Basketball Coaches (Roach K).

More on the Illinois team and a preview of the Illinois vs Duke Maui game at the Illinois Rivals page, and also check FightingIllini.com.