I'm going to try and make this quick today because Charles Oakley and Ben Wallace are on their way over to watch the Virginia Union game. I've said it already, this year's tournament is as good as it gets in terms of overall excitement and drama. Anybody who can say with a straight face (I'm looking at you Simmons) that these games aren't more fun and exciting to watch than the NBA deserves to be beaten with a bar stool.
I'm absolutely loving this tournament so far. I'm also dealing with way more stress than I'm used to. First off, it's been a while since Florida has advanced this far so I'm having to adjust to the stresses of watching my alma mater in late game tournament situations. Beyond that, there's the tourney pool angle. Unlike (seemingly) everybody I've talked to, I'm enjoying a hell of a run through March thus far. Following up last year's 3 of 4 in the Final Four performance by successfully picking 7 of the 8 team's still alive in this year's tourney (Seriously, fuck you Roy Williams. That comes from me and the folding chair that I'm currently sitting in.) Of course, I can't really brag about my prognosticating skills b/c I've been mere inches away from having my bracket destroyed each of the past two nights. Somehow, I keep ending up on the right side of miraculous shots (Texas, Florida) or unbelievable comebacks (Nova, UCLA). I've also managed to have the increasingly questionable officiating of this year's tourney benefit me and my bracket...for the most part.
As much as I'm enjoying my success, last night nearly pushed me over the edge. If Villanova had lost, then it's would've all ended right there for me as I have the Cats slated to win it all over Texas a couple of Monday evenings from now. I should probably send a personalized thank you note to Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry for keeping me alive against BC. That's the problem though. I shouldn't be stressed out over a damn BC-Villanova game. I was going to be stressing enough over the UF game against Georgetown. Speaking of UF, I'm all for the Gators destroying my bracket at this point. I love money, but not nearly as much as I love the University of Florida. The Final Four or a National Title would be great, but after last night, it's all gravy for me and UF from here on out. I had an awful feeling about last night's game. The pace was slow, Humphrey couldn't get an open look to go down, Roy Hibert was pulling off unbelievable spin moves in the lane. It just all seemed to be coming together for the Hoyas. When Ashanti Cook banked home that shot from the top of they key with 1:29 left, I just figured that it wasn't in the cards for UF. Instead, Crazy Corey Brewer made a miraculous shot that completely changed the game's momentum and ended up pushing UF over the top. I flew off my couch when that shot went down. I also dropped to my knees when Brewer slipped and left Owens open from three on the next possesion. He was just too damned wide open to miss, but miss he did. I've pretty much come to terms with this tournament being the last time we'll ever see Joakim Noah in a Gator uniform, so why not keep this thing going as long as possible? I could certainly use the $300 that I'm in the running for but that can't come close to the feeling of watching this team (that I've believed in since November) make a run at a National Title.
Of course, I wouldn't even have to worry about the moral conundrum that awaits me on Sunday afternoon if it weren't for fucking Marcus Williams and Rashad Anderson. If Washington wins last night (it's tough when your playing against the guys in stripes right Holmgren?) then I'd already have my sister's pool wrapped up. Think about that, if Jensen doesn't foul Williams on the drive, or if Anderson doesn't hit either of those late threes, or if the refs would've called goaltending, then I'd already have won a large NCAA Tourney pool before the fucking Final Four had even been determined. Thanks alot guys. I could've been bragging about this tournament run for years to come. As it is, I picked the UConn-UW game correctly and I couldn't be less excited about it.
I can hear Oakley firing up the blender in the kitchen so I'll leave you with these thoughts before I go:
- If you replaced UConn with Duke last night, every sports reporter and/or blogger in the Western Hemisphere would be spouting conspiracy theories right now.
- I'd like to tell both Rashad Anderson and Ryan Appleby to go straight to hell. One of these guys should've never come to Florida. One shouldn't have ever left. Both of them helped murder what could've been a beautiful victory tour of a weekend for me.
- If UConn wins the National Title, they should just give the trophy to Marcus Williams. I guess Rashad Anderson can get weekend visitation. Rudy Gay, Josh Boone and the rest of those scrubs can take a polaroid of it. Seriously, can you name one player who is so vital to his team's success. They don't come close to winning a single game in the tournament without him. Amazing performace by him thus far.
-While I'm talking about Williams, I might as well mention that he's probably made himself a lottery pick these last two weeks. You know you're good when you can miss half the season for stealing laptops and still work your way into the lottery by mid-March. As for the rest of UConn's team, I wouldn't go near any of them in the draft. Boone and Armstrong have all the offensive skill of Andrew Declerq and I'm pretty sure that Rudy Gay is alot close to Rodney White than he is to Carmelo Anthony. I would spend a second round pick on Anderson though. With his size and stroke, I'd be shocked if he's not coming off NBA benches for the next ten years.
- I was playing basketball this morning and talking about last night's games. As me and my friend Joe were talking about the UConn-UW game, another player came over and said, "How did that end? I had to go to sleep." I wanted to punch this guy right in his fucking face. What kind of single man in his 20's can't stay up past midnight on a Friday to watch sports, much less the damn NCAA Tournament? Did you have to get up early and go dress shopping? If I was this kid's Dad I'd probably cry myself to sleep every night.
- I thought Billy Packer was going to walk on the court and kiss Kyle Lowry on the mouth last night. Can you blame him? Lowry impacts the game in so many ways that you rarely see from a guy his size. I do remember somebody talking about how awesome he was a while back. Who was that?
- I think you saw a major difference between Randy Foye and alot of other great/good collegiate players last night. While he's no more skilled than a Redick or Morrison, he seemed to have a greater strength of will than anybody else on the court last night. Lowry played great but he didn't get it going until the mid-second half. When Villanova was really struggling, it was Foye who kept them in it (nearly singelhandedly). What was even more impressive (to me) was the way in which Foye was doing it. He repeatedly took the ball inside against BC and finished over their big guys. Even after Villanova got back in it, Foye continued to take the ball right to BC. His penetration even allowed Allan Ray to knock dowm a couple of key jumpers late. His game was as impressive a clutch performance as I've seen all year.
- One last thing about Foye. You really have to appreciate him and Ray brining back the lines in the side of your head fad from the late 1980's. We're officially on step closer to the high-top fade. On that note, I'd also like to ask Mike Nardi to get rid of the lines in his hair...and Mike, would you like to show the fuck up at some point in the tournament. Jesus, sack up already.
- Picking a favorite Bill Raftery catchprhase is kind of like picking a favorite form of heroin for me. Too many choices, too little time. If I was forced to pick though, I might have to go with, "A little lingerie on the deck!!"
- Of all the possible reactions after hitting a game winning shot (chest thump, jersey pop, the airplane, etc.), there is nothing, and I mean nothing, as cool as what Kenton Paulino did on Thursday night. Just take a couple of steps toward the sideline and stare at the crowd like the biggest fucking pimp in the room (mean mug and/or crotch grab optional). My Dad always said, "Act like you've been there before." Who knew my Dad was so effin cool?
- Does anybody else love making the obligatory Darryl Hall joke whenever BC's John Oates gets a rebound? I knew I couldn't be the only one.
- No announcer gives you more random facts per minute than Dick Enberg. Within a span of five minutes on Thursday night we learned that Magnum Rolle is named after Magnum P.I. ( I was guessing that that was the brand of condom that broke some 18 years ago...Thanks. I'll be here all week.), Daniel Gibson wears #1 b/c he strives to be the best and that John Beilein molest collies in the offseason. Ok, I made one of those up.
- The NBA could take a tip from some of CBS's musical selections. I heard the Chemical Brothers and Modest Mouse last night...right on.
- I finally figured out what happend to Shelden Williams' forehead...He stole part of Tyrus Thomas' and had it surgically implanted onto his head to make him taller. People from Duke are evil.
- Have I mentioned that my Dad had been nursing a man crush on Thomas for the better part of two weeks now? Can you blame him? Thomas is like Stromile Swift with a brain...and a heart...and some sense of what to do on the basketball court. Other than that, they're like mirror images of each other.
- I'm not sure if anybody realized this (I didn't at first either) but Thursday's Texas-WVU game featured a matchup of complete and total polar opposites in WVU's Kevin Pittsnogle and UT's Brad Buckman. You could even say that they are the bizzarro version of each other. Think about it: Pittsnogle is a highly skilled seven footer known for his deft shooting touch and advanced skill set. He's also highly tattooed, ugly, and was raised in a trailer park in West Virginia. Buckman, on the other hand, is an undersized big man who makes his living by getting boards, setting picks and scoring garbage buckets. Additionally, Buckman is a fairly good looking guy (ngs) with not a single drop of ink to speak of who was raised in a Country Club in Austin by his golf pro father. Frankly, I'm surprised that the weren't both sucked into some alternate universe when they lined up along the blocks next to each other.
March rules.
P.S.- I had some sweet pics for this post (Oakley with the Blender, Hall & Oates, even a comparison b/w Williams and Thomas' foreheads but my computers acting weird and blocking all my pop ups...sorry.)
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14 comments:
Best. Tournament. Ever.
My bracket was shot after Texas shit the bed in OT (thanks for showing up LeMarcus Aldridge) and Memphis remembered that they hadn't played a big program since 1952. So needless to say I was rooting like hell for Mason yesterday. Best game of the tournament to this point. But they'll really have problems against UF's athletic bigs. That's the big difference b/w UConn's bigs and UF's. Do you ever think that Boone could dribble half the court left handed and finish with said hand. God I love Joakim Noah. I creamed my pants when he finished that layup left handed even though he was fouled. Fundamentals where have you gone?
Don't forget about Horford. He may be the better ball handler of UF's bigs. Not alot of bigs wioth his athleticism can break a press by themselves.
My bracket is still alive (barely). I could win the whole thing, tie (w/my five year old niece) or lose. I was rooting harder for Mason yesterday than I was for UF, though most of that had to do with the insane level of play in the UConn-Mason game as well as UF-Nova being somewhat anitclimatic. Just awesome. This has been, without a doubt, the best tournament ever.
Maybe the SEC isn't so bad after all.
Tell me you don't want to murder somebody is you're a coach or player at Hofstra this morning. God they've got to be pissed.
You knew that Lewis would miss those 2 FTs at the end of OT in the Mason-UConn game. A dude that big playing that long w/o a break didn't have any legs left.
But it was poetic justice for Brown to miss that 3 after the huge elbow he threw to get the spacing.
And Horford is a stud. Nova just didn't have an answer for him or Noah. They would have been a totally different team w/ Sumpter healthy.
And Lowery better learn how to shoot the 3 before he even thinks about coming out. A guys who's 6'1" and has only taken 8 3s all year isn't going to cut it.
I love Lowry but he'll be nothing more than Brevin knight if he can't get himself a consistent jumper. He'd be smart to come back next year. With him and Sumpter, they will have two pretty good players to build a team around. It shouldn't have taken so long for people to realize that laying off is the best (or only) way to effectively guard Lowry.
So, according to Pat Forde of espn.com, this is what set the tone for Florida's big season?
MINNEAPOLIS -- This season of validation for Billy Donovan began in a manner that would make most coaches cringe.
It began with a fistfight between teammates.
This was last April, after a fifth consecutive first-weekend exit from the NCAA Tournament -- all losses to lower-seeded teams. The Gators were playing pickup ball at the Florida practice facility, with the teams divided as usual: upperclassmen on one side and youngsters on the other. If you ask the youngsters, they'll tell you they won most of the games, even though they were supporting actors on the 2004-05 team.
At some point during this particular game, freshman Corey Brewer squared off with junior Matt Walsh, one of the team's stars.
Freshman reportedly decked junior, sending a message that still reverberates in Gainesville.
I jut finished reading that article before lunch. I'm gonna post it later today or tomorrow sometime with some other crap i've got to say. Could I love Corey Brewer any more than I do? No.
Hughes
I just sacked up and bought my ticket for Seattle. I'm pretty excited.
I'll be doing it later on this week. I'm getting pretty damn excited too.
I just wanted to make sure that you saw the intern's links today. He's got a video of Matt Bonner winning a HS dunk contest. Its pretty awesome.
I think you eman extremely awesome. Did you see the last one he did? Kenny Smith would be proud.
He has zero offensive skills. He's going to be lucky to be Jeff Foster at the next level. It doesn't help his cause that he looks abiut as interested in basketball as Weinhold was/is in girls.
I saw a mock draft that had Boone going at the top of the 2nd round. I think that's a bit of a stretch. If he works out well I think the fact that Villanueva has turned it up in the league will help him. Despite the fact that his offensive skill set isn't anywhere close to Charlie's.
He's 6'11, athletic, and good defensively. Somebody will take him in the 1st round. Even David Harrison (less pedigree, similar lack of passion) went in the first round a couple of years ago.
If I had a pick in the 20's and he was still available, I'd probably take him. Are you really going to do better than him that late in the draft?
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