Sunday, March 25, 2007

Your 2007 Final Four:
Florida, UCLA, Ohio St, Georgetown

What a huge - HUUUUGE - performance by Georgetown to beat UNC. That OT was jaw-dropping.

Florida: Defending champs return.
UCLA: Second straight FF for Bruins.
Ohio State: Call them the "Final Frosh."
Georgetown: Best team remaining?

My otherwise sorry bracket has been salvaged by picking 3 of 4 Final Four teams: Florida, UCLA and Georgetown. (Barely impressive? Consider: I picked all three to make the Final Four back in November, too.)

Much, much more on Monday. (By the way, as for Final Four predictions, I'll stick with my original bracket picks: Florida meeting Georgetown in the title game.)

-- D.S.

24 comments:

Unknown said...

Did you just not have anything else to type about Georgetown?

Conley has made me a believer.

OSU v Florida in final.

futurelegendvinceyoung said...

I think Duke v. UNLV in 1991 was the last time that teams who faced each other in the championship faced each other in the Final Four the next year. In 1990 UNLV smoked Duke but Duke came back against the undefeated Rebels and won the next year. I think the same thing is going to happen this year with UCLA and Florida (I hope because I cannot stand more of Dan's smug homerism if Fla. repeats)

Signal to Noise said...

I'm going with UCLA and Georgetown. I like Jeff Green too much, and UCLA is probably pure homerism on my part, being an L.A. native, but this year's Bruins team mucks the offense of every team they play (much more so than last year.)

Danielle said...

Rafael is right.

It's all about Mike. Conley. Junior.

Ohio State over Florida in the final.

Andy said...

Well, I picked UNC over UCLA in the championship, so I'll pick UCLA to win it. My bracket was busted a while back. I've decided I'm the worst bracket picker ever. I never do well. Yeah, I'm done.....

Chris said...

While reading Dan slurping up to his wife's team yet again (just for the record he did graduate from another D-1 school from a major conference, Northwestern.)and trying to figure out why it is so annoying, the reason dawned on me. FLORIDA IS THE NEW DUKE. I know, I know, blasphamy, but hear me out. Duke was so irrelevant this year we need some other team to fill the void.The reasons so many people, me included, soured on the Blue Devils in the first place were things like annoying players, (Laetner, Wojo, etc...), seemingly getting every call, over-exposure, and media people like Dickie V. constantly jocking them.

Now let's take all those things and think about what team of relevance would apply today. Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you the Florida Gators. Let's go point by point here.

1. Joakim Noah is the most annoying player I can remember in quite some time. Can he thump his own chest and scream any more than he already does? Sheesh. Since Dan sucks up to his wife's team he would consider this passion for playing the game. However, if a Dookie (like Redick for example) had done this he would be writing about nothing else but how annoying he was.

2. Seemingly getting every call. Did anyone watch today's game where Oregon had 4 of their main players with 4 fouls for a large portion of the second half? When CBS put up the "foul trouble" graphic and had 4 Ducks on it did anyone see any Gator with even 3 fouls? Yeah, me neither. Did anyone notice how Dan's wife's team shot 43 free throws to 16 for the Ducks (okay, Oregon was fouling at the end so we'll knock 10 off of that total and it's still 33-16 which is more than double)?. Did it seem like Dan's wife's team was getting every call, especially anywhere near the rim? Yeah, I thought that while watching it as well.

3. Over-exposure. Okay, admittedly, Dan's wife's team is not quite as over-exposed as the Coach K. and his band of clowns but we are getting there. If they happen to double up next Monday night, Dickie, Digger, and the boys will be on everywhere they can trying to put their historical run into perspective.

4. Media Over-kill. While Dickie V. and Digger haven't reached Duke proportions yet with their hyping of the Gators, Dan is more than filling the void wiht his "smug homerism" (thanks futurelegendvinceyoung, I couldn't have said it better myself). If UCLA can't end this needless suffering next Saturday Shanoff will be completely unbearable (if he isn't already) with his over-the-top postings about his wife's team.

So, fellow readers, there is my argument. Long-winded? Yes. Well thought out? I'll let you decide. However, I think it can be persuasively argued once and for all that FLORIDA IS THE NEW DUKE.

pv845 said...

Chris, amazing!

Trey (formerly TF) said...

Did anyon Notice that Oregon's tallest player wasn't as tall as Florida's frontline? Of course fouls are going to go one way when you have a 6'5" guy trying to outrebound a 6'11" guy.

DP said...

Man, I must be some kind of fucked up person that I wanted UNC to win, then when I found out the Georgetown won, I was not even slightly sad. Guess disliking Hansbrough was enough for me. Oh well, it put my bracket back on track.

DP said...

@tf

Yeah, it looked like Oregon didn't have a snowball's chance in hell in this one, but they made a good run. And too bad that midget they have choked on his own hype.

Kurt said...

Chris, I'm not sure Florida is at Duke's level. That said, I hate Noah more than I ever hated Redick. I just want someone to dunk on Noah and scream in his face. I feel like if a team used his emotion against him by trash talking, he would retaliate and get T'ed up or thrown out. Brewer is kind of cocky but he and Horford are fine. Although I usually root strongly against repeat champions (unless it's Uconn), I feel myself rooting extra hard against Shanoff teams because bandwagon fans don't deserve to be rewarded.

jhawkjjm said...

I wasn't very impressed with Florida and I think Florida fans should be worried. Oregon's little guard had an awful night shooting, on open looks. And Humphrey bailed out Florida with some big 3s. (Hmmm...sounds sort of familiar and reminescent of UCLA-KU... but that's me being bitter still)

Speaking of memories, I've seen that collapse by UNC before again. I saw it a few times while at Kansas. I'm just happy they lost, not because I'm a bitter fan towards Roy and what he did, but rather because I won't have to listen to the bitter fans say that
"Roy did what Self couldn't...fire Self."

Real Men Eat Haggis said...

It is NOT a coincidence that teams just happen to have terrible offensive nights against UCLA. Butler was thisclose to taking Dan's wife's team down, and UCLA is worlds better than the Bulldogs.

OSU-Georgetown will be an absolute war. The matchups in the middle will be great, but Conley is the best PG in the country right now.

Sorry Dan (and Dan's wife), but it'll be UCLA-OSU in the final, and the Buckeyes will cut down the nets.

Trey (formerly TF) said...

jhawkjjm said...
I wasn't very impressed with Florida and I think Florida fans should be worried. Oregon's little guard had an awful night shooting, on open looks. And Humphrey bailed out Florida with some big 3s. (Hmmm...sounds sort of familiar and reminescent of UCLA-KU... but that's me being bitter still)

Speaking of memories, I've seen that collapse by UNC before again. I saw it a few times while at Kansas. I'm just happy they lost, not because I'm a bitter fan towards Roy and what he did, but rather because I won't have to listen to the bitter fans say that
"Roy did what Self couldn't...fire Self."


You haven't been impressed with Florida all year so it doesn't suprise me.

The WHOLE thing with Florida is that we have never had one source of scoring. Humphrey and Green bailed us out? No, they played their game. They might not go off every night, but Florida is a team built around sharing the ball and when Humphrey and Green are hitting we're pretty damn good.

Is it any coincidence that we're back in the Final Four?

Anonymous said...

to tf:

no because david stern mistook the gators for dwayne wade.

jhawkjjm said...

I've never said Florida has been unimpressive this year. They've played great all year except for a small stretch. They just haven't come out and dominated teams like many think they should be. But I consider someone shooting over 50 (7-13 or whatever) percent from 3 bailing out a team that didn't look that dominating. That hot of shooting is not something that you can rely on. The bigs for Florida did not play all that great today in my opinion and Florida didn't seem to be able to put Oregon away. With the kid from Oregon shooting that cold, I would have figured a less close game. You live by the 3 you die by the 3.

And the fact that they can get scoring from everyone, much like KU is why I was hoping those two would get to play again. The Las Vegas game was awesome to watch.

Trey (formerly TF) said...

^^^ I agree that UF/KU game in Vegas was the best regular season game of the year and I was hoping we'd get to meet again.

Scoring 4 points in the last 10 ticks to send it to overtime had me dancing on my couch.

The heroin sheik said...

I thought the gator game was pretty good. Sure we came out a little flat but we have in just about every game this year so at this juncture in the season I am not that worried about it. There is no way we are as annoying as duke, but as a gator alum I won't deny that we can be a bit overenthusiastic at times. We only got the calls because as TF pointed out we had a huge height advantage.

I think UCLA will be a tough win. They do play great D but if we can click on offense no one can touch us. Regardless I think both teams will be loose with their both having been here last year.

I think the Gtown OSU game will be the better game to watch. I am on the fence over who I would rather face. GU really scares me but I know it is difficult to beat a team twice in one year. Either way be prepared for the gator nation to proclaim our greatness when we repeat.

Unknown said...

Best two year stints:

I think that the criteria should be winning a title and reaching the final four as a minimum in two years. Back-to-back can't be expected and two final four appearences is two common. Also, abiding by the 1985 limitation because of expansion, these are the teams that qualify...

1990-1991 UNLV Runnin' Rebels
Won 1990 championship, reached final four in 1991

1991-1992 Duke Blue Devils*
Won 1991 championship, repeated as champions in 1992
*=assuming the 1992 team was better than the 1990 team

1994-1995 Arkansas Razorbacks
Won 1994 championship, lost 1995 championship

1996-1997 Kentucky Wildcats**
Won 1996 championship, lost 1997 championship
**=assuming the 1996 team was better than the 1998 team

2000-2001 Michigan State Spartans
Won 2000 championship, reached final four in 2001

2001-2002 Maryland Terrapins
Reached final four in 2001, won 2002 championship

2006-2007 Florida Gators
Won 2006 championship, currently in 2007 final four

This leaves 7 teams elligible for this "Top 5 two-year runs since expansion".

The question is which 2 of these teams to you leave out?

John Paul Manahan said...

ucla knocks off dan's gators...

i share the sentiment of others here about florida

hoyas showed why they are the trendy pick.

(with a lil help from the choke)

hoyas over bruins...

Josh said...

I think Dan is a little premature about the greatness of the Gators. If UCLA wins two more games, that would be 2 championship games in a row, plus a title. That would have to be better than the Gators, wouldn't it? I mean, it would be 1-1 head to head, 1-1 in championships, but only one final game appearance for Florida to two for UCLA. So wait until Saturday to determine which of these two teams faces the prospect of all-time greatness.

TJ said...

I agree with hisjazziness. It's entirely possible that UCLA--not Florida--gets remembered as the team of 06-07, with the Gators as an "oh right" footbote. This of course seems a very weird thought from my vantage point in Gainesville, but there it is.

Matt T said...

@guyinthecorner:

I know you said best 2 year stints, but Duke went to the final four 4 straight years and 9/13 years at one point.

Florida's got a lot of work left to do

Chris said...

As a point of clarification on my post last night that "Florida is the new Duke", I didn't mean to imply that the hatred for Dan's wife's team has reached the level of hatred that the Blue Devils have spent years building up. All I'm saying is that for this year, there are many similarities between the two teams and the hatred is approaching the same levels (again, for this year). Since Duke has been off the tournament radar this season, the Gators (and their over-the-top fans led by bandwagon jumper Dan Shanoff)offer many of the things that we so hate about Duke.

I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to watch Joakim Noah pound his own chest 50 times a game. I'm curious, does he do this in every facet of his life. When he gets done eating does he get up from the table, look down at his plate, pound his chest and scream?Tell me if that were Redick, Shanoff wouldn't be going crazy in every post about what an ass he is. I agree with Kurt, I find him much more annoying than Redick and I never thought I'd feel that way. I look forward to the day he is drafted into the pros and is dunked on with regularity by the likes of Howard, Stoudemire, Garnett, and every other power forward in the league. Does he think his chest thumping is going to intimidate anyone in the NBA? Not with that skinny body. Some team is going to draft him way to early and watch him be completely mediocre. I wouldn't say the same thing about Horford though. I think he is the real deal and will be a very good NBA player.