Saturday, March 24, 2007

Saturday 3/24 (Very) Quickie

Jeff Green hit the most challenging game-winner of any I have ever seen in an NCAA Tournament game. What a shot and what a player. He's a taller Dwyane Wade.

Yes, I was VERY nervous about Florida. I think I set a record for number of times one can mutter the F-word.

UNC just seemed to flip a switch, didn't they? And all of a sudden, "looking like crap" turned into "they've surged to a lead."

Say this about Oregon: At least they bring a little seed variety to the Elite Eight.

But when your lowest-remaining seed is a 3, Cinderella is dead. (Or, at least, on vacation this year.)

Again, my question of the weekend: Is it good or bad for college hoops that every regional final is 1-vs-2 (with that one exception 1-vs-3, in the region where the 2 didn't deserve a 2 anyway).

Today's Regional Finals:
West: UCLA over Kansas. My bracket says UCLA. My head says UCLA. They play Saluki-quality defense and know how to win in this game. KU has been playing with house money since they got out of Round 1.

South: Ohio State over Memphis. How many more lives can the Buckeyes have? Enough to be the best freshman-dominated team since the '92 Fab Five -- also a Final Four team?

More sports news:

Kobe goes 50+ -- AGAIN! That's four straight games. He's only the second NBA player ever to do it. If it wasn't for the Tournament, how much more attention would this streak be getting?

Wilt's record is 7 games, and I'm predicting Kobe goes for it. The next two games are against the Warriors and Grizzlies, so it's definitely within reach.

Chone Figgins: Out 5-6 weeks with broken fingers. As always: How much will this affect his fantasy stock?

Texans release David Carr: If they were just going to get rid of Carr inevitably, then their epic 2006 Draft mistake wasn't passing on Reggie Bush -- it was passing on hometown hero and 2006 Rookie of the Year Vince Young.

Knicks sign Randolph Morris: You read that right. (Short story: Draft loophole.) And so he goes from NCAA Tournament one week to NBA roster the next.

(Unlucky for the Knicks: Morris stinks. Softest big man in college in a decade. Makes Brendan Haywood look like Ben Wallace. But points to Isiah for creative player acquisition!)

Any developments in the Pat Tillman investigation reminds fans how truly tragic that story really was.

Here's hoping for a full recovery to the kid who wears the UNC mascot uniform. Thoughts and prayers with him, his family and UNC fans thinking of him.

18 comments:

TJ said...

What a shot and what a player.

I was impressed the first 4 or 5 times I saw it. They they showed the other angle (from behind him) and it became super apparent that he used about 2 pivot feet and shuffled them several times to boot. I cease to be impressed when the play shouldn't have even happened. If he didn't travel, there's no way he would have gotten free enough to make the shot, so basically: Vandy got screwed.

jhawkjjm said...

I knew Butler didn't stand a chance against Florida when the refs were calling all the little bumps down low while the Florida big men were posting up.

Obvious travel on Green as I was shouting it at the TV when he did it. But I also knew there was no way they were calling it.

UCLA may play Saluki style defense, but so doesn't Kansas. And now that Kansas has seen it and beat it, its not going to be that big of a deal. Part of the reason that Kansas struggled is that the officials let the two teams play more physical and didn't call the ticky tack fouls like in the Florida-Butler game. If they called the game tight and didn't allow all the bumping and reaching, the game would have been completely different and favored the 'hawks. That's what I'm going to be watching for today. There's not many teams that can match the athletes that Kansas has. But, I still question how UCLA will score against Kansas' defense.

Luke Bell said...

(with that one exception 1-vs-3, in the region where the 2 didn't deserve a 2 anyway).

Yeah, the team ranked #4 in the nation doesn't deserve a #2 seed. Please try to keep in mind that the seeds are given out based on the body of work over the season, not retroactivly after the tournament.

Anonymous said...

green traveled pure and simple...

and was i the only one who thought that the reffing in the usc unc game was horrendous.

and kobe is amazing but i don;t think hell get 7/50

Anonymous said...

http://packervote.blogspot.com/

vote on whether you like packer

chipp said...

I haven't seen the reply from behind him, but if you consider his right foot the pivot foot and that itdoesn't "slide" then his shot was a text book "step-and-a-half" move. They teach that in youth basketball because it is in the rule book as a legal move. If you drive to the basket and you pick up the ball with your left foot in the air (right foot is then the pivot foot) you can step with your left and jump off your left (your right leaving the floor first) to shoot. His move to shoot was not a travel, but again there seemed to be a lot going between him regaining control of the ball and making the move.

With all the traveling that ISN'T called I'm surprised that this is getting so much attention. The hop down the lane is the worst: the player has to be in the air before the ball returns to his/her hand to complete the move he/she quite often is still on the floor, gets the ball back up from the dribble, hops, steps, and shoots. A great replay in the Oregon game lauded a Duck for the move, even though it was clearly a travel.

Speaking of traveling, is Lebron James running a youth summer camp?

Anonymous said...

i have actually had arguments with people on the hop step..
The rule is you can jump but you cannot pick up the ball until in the air and must land on both feet at the same time before going up.

Anonymous said...

I still can't believe Simmons picked KU and Florida to win their S16 games by 20 and 25, respectively.

Anyways, went to bed so i missed the late games. Glad to see both UNLV and USC made good games out of it.
This may not be the tournament for huge upsets, but it has been AWESOME for comebacks. Ohio State twice, UNC from 18... exciting shit!

I think it kinda makes up for the lack of upsets.

mcam09 said...

Was at the Meadowlands last night. Very impressed by USC, but they simply ran out of gas. When Gibson had to leave with his 4th foul, which was a poor ticky tack call, UNC made their run. USC could not handle the Heels on the glass. Carolina seemingly scored on tip-ins on about 4 straight possessions. UNC wore them out and at the end of the game, the Trojans had no legs under them and were beaten to every ball where in the first 30 minutes of the game, they thoroughly outplayed UNC.

adnteh said...

Couple points:
1. Wisconsin DID deserve the 2 seed, if you saw their season. They were just without their best(?) inside player, and were flat as Paris Hilton for two games. I think you've forgotten what causes those upsets that you sorely miss.

2. Asking sports fans whether it's good or bad that the tourney is going a certain way is like asking about stocks: the people who picked the winners will be happy and those who picked the losers will not. I really don't think many people care about the integrity of the NCAA Tourney, if such a thing can be deduced from number of upsets.

3. How many times does traveling go uncalled in an NCAA game, anyway? Here's your answer.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

KU playing with house money? Don't see that....

Can someone explain to me how Bill Self is considered a tournament underachiever when this is his 4th trip to elite 8 in 9 trips?

Anonymous said...

lol there are certain truths that Dan lives by:
one is that Kansas is a choking team that is lucky to get out of the first weekend.
Since they have done that this year, Dan figures they have already surpassed expectations (playing with house money)


btw, what happened to the UNC mascot?

SAMO said...

Jeff Green hit the most challenging game-winner of any I have ever seen in an NCAA Tournament game. What a shot and what a player. He's a taller Dwyane Wade.

Dan, by refering to him as a taller Dwyane Wade are you implying that he, like Wade, gets every call imaginable from refs? That was clearly a travel. If I were a Vanderbilt fan I would be quite upset right now. Thankfully I'm not though.

Anonymous said...

can someone put the billy packer thing on deadspin for me

http://packervote.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

of course having the higher seeds all get into the ff is better for the tournament, then we dont have to see george mason get assfucked again on national tv.

Anonymous said...

Well, Dan may never be convinced.

But Memphis is a hell of a good team. And I think they'll be very very good next year too...with another shot at the EE or better. Certainly on my bracket. heh

pv845 said...

Am I the only person that is noticing that about every screen that UCLA's big guys are setting are moving?