East Region: Second Weekend Review

Cornell was the cinderella after the first weekend and it had the chance to knock off Kentucky for an incredible upset of all upsets. The Juicy Fruit Big Red came out and grabbed a 10-2 lead or something like that, but then Kentucky ended the game on a 60-35 run to put an end to the Ivy Leaguer's run. It was nice while it lasted, but Cornell is losing a lot of seniors and they may not be competitive for a few more years. The best thing about surprise teams like that is all of the background stories of the players. The tall guy that looked like an 8' tall Daniel Craig was recruited by no one out of high school, then ended up being a beast of all beasts.

Who does he think he is wearing #1 as a center, Amare Stoudemire? No, better.

Let me just say that I have no idea what really happened in the W. Virginia/Washington game, but I could take a guess. Washington led at halftime 29-27, but then the Mountaineers realized that they were bigger and better team than the Huskies. W. Virginia outrebounded Washington 41-25, but also outturnovered (sp?) them 23-21. I caught the end of this game and holy shit, it was just bad pass after steal after foul after step out of bounds; just plain ugly basketball. After W. Virginia walked off the court with a 13-point win, I did not think they stood a chance against Kentucky.

From left: Some guy, Who cares, J. Wall, D. Cousins

Looking at the final score of this Elite 8 matchup, you would not catch the gist of the game whatsoever. If I told you that W. Virginia did not make a two point basket in the first half, would you believe that they were actually ahead? Well they were, 28-26, by way of eight threes and four foul shots even though Kentucky was outrebounding the Mountaineers 29-13. However, the Wildcats missed all eight of their threes in the first half, missed the next twelve and finished 4-32 (13%) from long range for the game.

Not kidding.

Well Kentucky shot 23-67 overall, so that means they shot 19-35 (54%) from inside the arc, but shooting 16-29 (55%) from the free throw line does not help your cause. The Wildcats basically fouled for the last three minutes and forced the Mountaineers to make foul shots, which they did well enough, going 23-34 (68%) for the game. Kentucky finally made some threes at the end and got it within maybe five at one point, but the deficit they dug early on was too much to overcome. I was just thinking that if Kentucky even shot 7-32 from three, which still sucks, they would have been right in this game; the Wildcats were the superior team, but not on this night.

Cue: More depressing Kentucky post-game pictures.

On the other hand, W. Virginia shot 10-23 (44%) from three point range, but just 20-52 overall from the floor. This means the Mountaineers were just 10-29 (34%) shooting twos. But with all of the fouling Kentucky did in the final three minutes, which really took 25 minutes, foul shots upped W. Virginia's score to 73 points. Joe Mazzulla had a career high 17 points, DeMarcus Cousins was a non-factor in the second half, and John Wall fouled out with a few minutes remaining to cement the Mountaineers' trip to Indy with Sweet Home Alabama (or whatever) in the background.

Alright man, you are actually kind of good...

West Region: Second Weekend Review

Three #1 seeds made it to the Sweet 16, obviously not including Kansas. Out of Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse, it seemed to me that the Orange had the unique style of play, experience and solid coaching to emerge as the new favorite with the Jayhawks out of the tournament. Wrong. The Butler Bulldogs met Syracuse in Salt Lake City and showed them who the more fundamentally sound team was. Syracuse outshot and outrebounded Butler, but had 18 turnovers to the Bulldogs' 7, and lost the game. For the season, Butler was averaging something like 5 steals per game, but had 13 in this contest. The Bulldogs had been getting it done by holding teams to a poor shooting percentage rather than turning them over, but in this game both were the case. Some stupid analyst said if Onuaku would have played, Syracuse's turnovers would not have been so high because, naturally, their starting center is the premier ball handler. This was the first of many entertaining/shocking Sweet 16 games.

Yeah, reminds me of Bob Cousy in his prime...

Approximately thirty minutes after the Butler upset, Kansas St. and Xavier tipped off, except Xavier did not come to play. Kansas St. got out to a 19-4 lead before Jordan Crawford could even remember who he dunked on. Xavier called some timeouts to get the troops rallied, and they sure as hell turned it around. Amazingly, the Musketeers were up 32-31 at halftime, but Mr. Second Half, Jacob Pullen, was lurking. Roberto Denis Clemente seemed to be the first half guy, and Pullen seemed to be the second half. If Clemente were the starter, Pullen would definitely be the closer.

Get the idea?

The second half was neck and neck up until then end when Kansas St. was up three with about ten seconds to play. The Wildcats attempted to intentionally foul the Xavier point guard Terrell Holloway as he crossed half court, but he was in the act of shooting so the Musketeers got three foul shots, and the kid drained them all. After Kansas St. missed, the game went into overtime. Let me just say that in overtime, it was some of the greatest shot making I have seen in a long time. Clemente, Holloway, Pullen and Crawford were making every shot they needed to, including a deep deep deep three by Crawford to send it into a second overtime. In the second overtime, Xavier went cold and Kansas St. pulled it out, but you could tell that they were hella tired. Clemente, for instance,  played 48 minutes out of the 50. The question was if it would affect the team with their matchup with Butler in two days...

Nah, probably not.

If you were not rooting for Butler on Saturday, your life is a waste. Lucas Oil Stadium, site of the FInal Four, is only six miles away from Butler's stadium and IT'S FREAKING BUTLER! If they were to make the Final Four, it would be George Mason-esque. As in the Xavier/Kansas St. game, Pullen was nowhere to be seen in the first half, but so was Clemente. The Wildcats had 20 total points in the first half and forward Curtis Kelly had like 12 of them. You could tell Butler's defense was focused on not letting either of Kansas St.'s super guards even breath on the offensive end, and the Bulldogs held a 27-20 lead at half. Clemente came out with a vengeance in the second half and brought the Wildcats back to tie the game, but Pullen remained quiet. The question wasn't "if" Pullen would hit a huge shot, but "when".

Quick question: Did Pullen even exist before this season? Bizarre.

But when it came down to the wire, Butler made the plays necessary to win the game and Kansas St. did not. Clemente hurt his ankle sometime in the second half and was noticeably limping around on the court, but still made a few good plays to keep Kansas St. in the game as long as possible. Pullen hit a few shots in the second half, but towards the end of the game the Wildcats did not have enough left in the tank to overcome Butler's solid team effort. Gordon Hayward, Butler's "star", stepped up with the game on the line and made some nice drives to the basket for layups. And Shelvin Mack, who as the point guard did not handle the ball very well throughout the game, made some clutch three pointers and sealed a trip to the Final Four for the Bulldogs.

No idea why you would get a trophy for winning your regional.

My favorite part of this game was when Len Elmore interviewed Butler's coach Brad Stevens (who looks like a 19 year old water boy) after the game. Elmore asked Stevens how it felt to be going back to Indy after the win, and Stevens responded by calmly stating "Well, we would have gone back to Indy with a win or a loss". Elmore was so stunned (clutch) and the Bulldogs cut down the nets in Salt Lake City. They will definitely be the sentimental favorites going forward to the final weekend, but can they actually do it?

Oh, the man himself.

Second Weekend Predictions

Midwest Region:

N. Iowa beats Michigan St.

Ohio St. beats Tennessee

Ohio St. beats N. Iowa

West Region:

Syracuse beats Butler

Kansas St. beats Xavier

Syracuse beats Kansas St.

East Region:

Kentucky beats Cornell

W. Virginia beats Washington

Kentucky beats W. Virginia

South Region:

Duke beats Purdue

Baylor beats St. Mary's

Baylor beats Duke

East Region: First Weekend Review

But seriously, who is playing Kentucky tonight?

If N. Iowa is not the shocker team of the tournament, then it is no doubt Cornell. Playing the A-10 champion Temple Owls in the first round, Cornell ran them out of the building. Then they come around two days later and do the same thing to the Wisconsin Badgers; a week later and Cornell is an awfully intriguing matchup for lottery pick filled Kentucky in the Carrier Dome. To score 78 points on Temple and 87 on Wisconsin, two teams who give up around 57 ppg on the season, is pretty amazing.

I can't decide if this logo is cute or angry...

But whoever thinks Cornell has done it with threes is sadly mistaken. The Big Red averages 38.5% of its points to come from threes, but through the first two games of the tournament, only 31% of its 165 points have come from the long ball. Cornell's success has come inside the three point line, they are shooting 67% inside the arc including 72% (18/25) vs. Wisconsin. Kentucky likes to speed it up and get out and dunk on your cranium while Cornell is very professional in their sets and likes to milk the clock. But if the Big Red were to win, it could be the second greatest upset in this tournament history.

Bring it on bitches!

The weakest conference in the history of conferences was the 2010 Pac-10. They made in only two schools to the tourney, Washington and Cal, and the Huskies only made it because they won the title game. Meanwhile, the Big East made eight schools into the dance. This made for a lopsided matchup for a Marquette vs. Washington game, at least on paper. The Huskies held the Golden Eagles' three balls in check and took them out. Next in line for Washington stood whatever conference dominator New Mexico, who no one really knew what to expect from. Well, Washington smoked them in a blowout and advanced to the Sweet 16 as a #11 seed to play West Virginia.

Stunned?

West Virginia was down 10-1 in the first half against #15 Morgan St., and everybody freaked out because the Big East (Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, etc.) had been losing games like hot cakes. Well no, the Mounties finished the game on a 76-40 run and moved on. West Virginia struggled a little with Missou in the next round; it seemed as though the quick style of play gave the Mountaineers some trouble up until the end of the game and they pulled it out. Seeing as the athletic, pressing D of the Tigers challenged West Virginia, Washington may have upset potential here. Mounties' fans will travel better to Syracuse but Lorenzo Romar is a beast, and they have Isaiah Thomas for goodness sakes...

It might be incredibly psycho, but he always makes me think of Carl Krauser. Yikes.

South Region: First Weekend Review

First of all: Why the hell was Duke ranked ahead of Syracuse in terms of #1 seeds? But I digress...

Even though Duke may not have deserved to be ahead of Syracuse, they sure took care of business. The Blue Devils whooped on (play-in game winner) in the first round then handled a surging Cal team in the second. Now they travel to Houston to take on Purdue, who shocked the world and did not get upset. Pretty much everyone on earth, except for this kid, had Purdue either bowing out to #13 seed Siena in the first round, or to Big 12 surprise Texas A&M in the second.

No idea who this is.

Well, the Boilermakers squeaked past both of those opponents and now have their hands full with Duke. Without Robbie Hummel and with limited service from point guard Lewis Jackson, Purdue took down two weaker opponents but will they be able to defeat such a solid team in Duke. The only chance Purdue has is if Jon Scheyer plays like he has in the first two rounds. He has been subpar, but the frontcourt carried Duke through the first two rounds. If Duke's guards do not step it up, Purdue will make them pay.

Vintage. Sick.

The first Big East team to go down was Notre Dame, although I thought the Irish might have been a tough tournament team the way they were playing. Unfortunately for them, they ran into perennial powerhouse Old Dominion and Luke Harangody did not show up until there was one minute left. Meanwhile, Baylor beat Sam Houston St. and then continued on vs. Old Dominion to get to the Sweet 16 without even playing a team from a power conference.

Old Dominion's starting five.

The first game of the tournament featured underdog Robert Morris and (overrated) Villanova. Long story short, Robert Morris got robbed. It was literally the worst, most one-sided, officiating I have ever seen in a college game and Villanova still needed overtime to beat the Colonials. Robert Morris legitimately outplayed Villanova on this day and deserved to win, but was robbed of a chance to win by the referees. I would love to see a soundbite of the Colonials' coach Mike Rice after this game, but I am sure he just locked himself in a padded room and just yelled for a few hours to relieve the frustration.

Seriously, Rice almost left the stadium.

In my bracket, I picked Richmond to beat St. Mary's and then take down Villanova in the second round, but I did not realize how shitty Richmond was, or how good St. Mary's was. Omar Samhan ran shit in the first round, totally dominating the Spiders' defense and the Gaels cruised to a comfortable win. When St. Mary's met Villanova in the second round, it was a total mismatch. Even though the Wildcats were a #2 seed, they were one of the coldest teams in the country, and even though the Gaels were a #10 seed, they were one of the hottest. Long story short, Samhan was dominant and the Gaels moved on to the Sweet 16, to meet Baylor in Houston this Friday. Yikes.

Good... Luck... There...

West Region: First Weekend Review

The West seems like the region that all goes according to plan.

Jimm. Er.

So far there have only been two upsets in this region. Pretty much the only exciting thing to happen was some guy on BYU named Jimmer Fredette. His name... is Jimmer. How freaking awesome is that? Jimmer and the Cougars beat Florida in 2OT in the first round, but then bowed out to Kansas St. in the second round because Jacob "Abe Lincoln" Pullen scored 34 points including seven threes. I am not sure how good Kansas St.'s front court is, but Pullen and Clemente alone may be good enough to win the Wildcats a few more games.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Conclusion: Absolutely sick.

Pitt easily beat Oakland in the first round while Xavier survived a tough matchup vs. Minnesota. When they met in the Round of 32 on Sunday it was a rematch of last year's Sweet 16 game when Pitt squeaked by and move on the Elite 8. Both of these teams are not as good as they were last year, but with each team's season on the line it turned out to be a great matchup. Simply put, Pitt missed a ton of short shots and Xavier made a ton of tough, contested shots. That was the difference and Pitt missed two potential game-tying threes in the final five seconds and lost 71-68.

Stupid gold jerseys...

At the top, Syracuse took care of business for two games without Onuaku by beating the #16 seed and then whooping Gonzaga. Murray St. knocked off overrated Vanderbilt on a buzzer beater in the first round, then bowed out to 22-game winning streak Butler. In the next round, most people will say Butler has no chance, and I am one of them. Syracuse saw Kansas go down and there is blood in the water. Some say Kentucky is the favorite, but I believe the Orange are the most complete team remaining in this tournament, assuming Onuaku comes back this weekend.

Poor little fella.

Midwest Region: First Weekend Review

Kansas is gone. Michigan St. is still alive. Georgetown was crap.

About 8,000% of the brackets had Kansas winning it all, however, Kansas failed to survive the weekend. They ran into a "dangerous" N. Iowa team with a real life neanderthal, a legit wolfman and a guy named Farokhmanesh. Oh yeah, the "h" is silent. The thing was that Kansas did not come to play and N. Iowa did, and they were good enough of a team to hold off the Jayhowks when they made a late surge. There were so many 50/50 rebounds that Kansas did not seem to want throughout the game. Sure they could have played like this and beaten Nebraska, but N. Iowa was 29-4 coming into this game, and regardless of whatever shit league they are from, this team knows how to win.

Look at these sexy boys.

Michigan St. survived its first round game with the help of a... questionable lane violation call, then played run and gun with Maryland for 40 minutes until some dude hit a three from the top of the key to send Greivis Vasquez back to... wherever he is from. The big story is that, according to Tom Izzo, there is an 85% chance that Kalin Lucas has a torn Achilles. Even if he just has a sprained ankle, he will be out this weekend. Who knows? Maybe N. Iowa will be favored against the Spartans? That would be pretty cool. Tom Izzo is a great coach, but I am sick of Michigan St. making it far in the tournament with a mediocre team. On a related note, N. Iowa's nickname should not be the Panthers, it should be the Purple _______. Just a thought.

"Damn youuu Achilles!!"

How about we get this straight: Georgetown was not a good team. Sure, they went on a run in the Big East Tournament, but they should not have been a #3 seed. Their defense is crap, and little John Thompson is a very overrated coach. Do not get me wrong, they should have not lost to Ohio, but to have any legitimate tournament expectations for the Hoyas was a mistake. Meanwhile, #6 seeded Tennessee took care of business against San Diego St. although most people were calling for the upset. This season, Tennessee beat the likes of Kentucky and Kansas by outplaying them, while Georgetown beat teams like Villanova, Syracuse and Duke by outscoring them. Therefore, Tennessee wins games in the tournament, while Georgetown gets knocked off.

Yeah, maybe back in 1924...

There is not much to say about the bottom fourth of this bracket. Georgia Tech knocked off Oklahoma St. but who cares. Meanwhile Ohio St. struggled in its first game and in its second game, but with Kansas out of the picture the Buckeyes are the clear favorite to take the Midwest. They need a little more consistency from Evan Turner and others, considering their bench is very slim, but I think they can do it. Some teams struggled this weekend and were knocked out, but Ohio St. did not play their best and still pulled out two wins. With three practice days to figure out a game plan against the Tennessee press and athleticism, Ohio St. should take down the Vols.