Author: Coach Z (Page 9 of 38)

For the third year in a row the UCLA Bruins have advanced to the Final Four. A feat that has been accomplished since John Wooden did it (with a little help from Sam Gilbert) in the early 70’s. Ben Howland Bruins are one of the toughest defensive teams in the country and Xavier felt the full brunt of it. They are relentless on the defensive end. Tonight they held Xavier to 36% shooting that included 4-19 from behind the line.

I have talked about Michael Beasley being the best player all year in comparison with Tyler Hansborough. I am dead wrong. I should have been comparing him to Kevin Love. Love’s ability to change the game on both ends of the floor might make him the best player in college basketball. Not only does he score in the post and rebound (19 & 10), but he is a presence whenever someone comes inside on the defensive end. His overall play tonight was spectacular. He made three’s, doled out assists, rebounded and would have sold popcorn during timeouts if he was allowed.

The Bruins are healthy and for the first time in three years are a real threat to win it all. With Love, they are a more complete team than the previous two squads. Teams must be strong down the middle to win in any sport. Think about it. Good catcher, pitcher, centerfielder. Quarterback, linebacker, safety. In basketball, with Love in the middle and Collison at the point the Bruins win every match-up. It will take a tremendous effort to derail the Bruins.

Jim Christian will become the new head coach at TCU. Christian recorded 6 straight 20 win seasons at Kent State. He did a terrific job of keeping the ball rolling after Gary Waters and Stan Heath used the job as a springboard. It is still a springboard as Christian will double his salary at TCU. His new paycheck will be over $500,000.

Also, Tony Bennet appears to be the top candidate at Indiana. His performance with Washington State has been remarkable. However, with his three core players all graduating now might be the best opportunity to move. History shows that a program like Washington State is next to impossible to maintain at the current success level. There are not enough players close by to draw from. At Indiana you have a very fertile recruiting ground.

Indiana officials say they will have a coach in place by the final four.

Also, Jaimie Dixon, Pittsburgh, has said no to Cal.

Kansas’ three guard attack proved to be more explosive than Villanova’s as the Jayhawks jumped to a 19 point halftime lead and coasted home 72-57. Mario Chalmers, who was cut by Villanova coach Jay Wright this summer when trying out for one of the ABA-USA teams, showed him what he missed out on as he scored 14 points and was perfect 6-6 from the line.

The Jayhawks defense shut down the Wildcats and held them to 36% from the field and only 3-17 from behind the arc. If Kansas can shut down Stephen Curry and Jason Richards like they shut down Scottie Reynolds nad Dante Cuningham, then Bill Self will be making his first trip to the final four. I know Kansas fans are already dreaming about a rematch with former coach Roy Williams.

With all of the talk about how poorly Memphis shoots free throws, it might not matter if they keep jumping to leads and showing the great depth like tonight as they dismantled Michigan State. I don’t kow if I have ever seen a Tom Izzo coached team look so out of whack in the tournament. In a game in which I thought the Spartans would foul the Tigers into submission, it never materialized. They just couldn’t catch them.

Memphis was able to keep it fast paced from the opening tip. Calipari likes to talk about his new offense “Dribble Drive Motion.” On paper it is simply drive and kick. On the court with five future NBA players who have bought in and are unselfish it is devastating. Michigan State had no answer as they fell behind 50-20 at halftime. With leads like the Tigers have had, free throw shooting won’t be an issue. Oh and by the way, all you naysayers who say they can’t win because of poor free throw shooting, they shot 26-35 from the line. Not too bad.

John Calipari has created a potential monster at Memphis. This is the third year in a row they have reached the Elite Eight. Now to really earn his money they need to get to the Final Four. If they can do that, they can become what UNLV was in the Tark era. A team that is above the level of their league. (Quick, name me three other teams in Conference USA. That’s my point.)

My money is on Memphis against Texas. Although, the Longhorns have athletes to contend with Memphis and a home court advantage. Those two things should keep the game close for a while.

Sidenote: I said at the beginning of the tournament that it was teams that made a large number of threes or late threes will prosper the most. Xavier and Davidson are two examples of that theory.

NAIA note: Oklahoma City won it’s second consecutive national championship in Kansas City this week. What is even more amazing is that head coach Ray Harper has been to the national championship game (NAIA and NCAA Division II) 9 out of his 12 years as a head coach. He now has multiple national championships at two different schools. He is the only coach who can make that claim. And if you don’t believe how good of a coach he is, just ask Bruce Pearl. When Pearl was at Southern Indiana, Harper’s Kentucky Wesleyan teams owned them.

Stephen Curry and his teammates did what no other team did to Wisconsin this year. That is beat them by double digits. In winning 73-56 they made the Big 10 Champions look like an imposter. Davidson hit 8 3’s in the first half and made Wisconsin chase them the rest of the night. After the Badgers lost Trevon Hughes early in the first half they seemed discombobulated. They no longer were able to get easy baskets.

If Stephen Curry isn’t an All-american it is only because he plays at Davidson. Curry scored 33 with an array of shots ranging from 3’s to runners. He now has scored over 30 points in three straight games. He had plenty of help from Jason Richards who doled out 13 assists. In the second half the Badgers were so spread out defensively that Davidson was able to get some easy baskets inside. Credit Coach Bob McKillop for keeping his troops focused and not just continuing to launch from behind the arc.

The winner of Kansas and Villanova will play Davidson. It is another opportunity for Curry and his running matre Richards to show that they might just be the best guard tandem in the country. With the nations longest winning streak (25), I not arguing…

Texas, playing in Houston, knocked Stanford out with a combination of running and doubling. DJ Augustin poured in 23 points, but more importantly, led a Texas defense that pestered Brooks Lopez into working overtime to score his 26 points. With one more game at home, I believe the Longhorns will be playing once again in Texas, this time San Antonio.

In the battle to get to the Elite Eight, it was the Louisville Cardinals who were the most surprising. No, not the fact that they won, but how easy they made it look. In a game of runs, it was the Cardinals who had the most and longest ones. Their defense was overpowering. Holding Tennessee to 34% shooting was a combination of changing defenses and just flat out hustle and execution. Pitino likes to talk about game slippage. Well, there was none tonight. Earl Clark recorded a double double (17 & 12) while three other players scored in double figures to lead a balanced offensive attack.

I said it before and I will say it again. The Cards are healthy for the first time all year. Which means they have depth (Pitino doesn’t have to depend on the eratic Derrick Character) and they are talented. With Pitino calling the shots it negates North Carolina’s home court advantage in the next round.

I am not sure what more I can say about North Carolina’s performance. I guess Washington State did a good job. The Tar Heels only scored 68 points. Let’s be honest – they were up 15 at half and never looked back. Through three games they look like men amongst boys. Tyler Hansborough is a great player (not the player of the year), but when you have Danny Green coming off the bench (he could start for all 63 other teams in the field) you are as deep as you can be. I lost count of how many future NBA players they have on their roster.

The matchup on Saturday with Louisville will be a battle of systems. I like the Cards due to the man on the bench and his ability to adapt and overcome. Should be a great game.

UCLA opened up a big lead and was up by 21, but Western Kenucky didn’t get this far by rolling over and playing dead. Behind the calculated moves of Darrin Horn, they battled their way back to cut it to under 10 with 5 minutes to go. However, in the end it was too much Kevin Love. He finished with 29 and left me wondering what he could do for an encore. I will give Ben Howland credit. He has mixed in this talented freshman with upperclassman and kept them from imploding. Now they face Xavier to get back to the Final Four.

Xavier blew the lead. Xavier had a chance to win in regulation. Xavier fell behind by 4 in OT. Xavier won. Not exactly how you would plan it, but in the end it didn’t matter that Bob Huggins was now at West Virginia instead of Cincinnati. He still can’t beat Xavier. Truth be told they played a helluva game and then gave it away.

After falling behind they battled like junkyard dogs only to cost themselves the game by missing 3-4 free throws while being up four. Meanwhile, Xavier unloaded a 3-point barrage in the closing stretch. Drew Lavender hit the first and then BJ Raymond drained back to back threes to seal the game. Give both teams credit as they battled their hearts out. Both coaches did an excellent job when their stars fouled out (Anderson for X and Alexander for WVU).

My money is on Xavier to upset UCLA and breakthrough to the Final Four for the first time in school history. Then Sean Miller will turn down the Indiana job.

COACHING NEWS:

Look for Ben Braun to be in play at Toledo. Mike Montgomery and Jaimie Dixon at Cal. Tom Crean is still my pick for Indiana.