The top highlight is of a crazy basketball game in Wisconsin…
Author: John Paulsen (Page 53 of 937)
Check out this University of Memphis cheerleader as she reacts to her team winning the National Hip-Hop Championship (whatever that is).
She has spirit, yes she does.
Ah, Rick Reilly. We love him here at The Scores Report. Whenever Anthony and I get together for a drink or dinner we always start off with a moment of silence in honor of Sir Rick. (That’s what we call him.) Without Rick Reilly’s genius, neither of us would have ever become writers. It was Sir Rick who inspired us.
Juuuust kidding. Can’t stand the guy. He can write, and he’s the King of the Schmaltz, but we can’t stand the guy.
Example #247, his postmortem on the BYU/Florida game, entitled, “Jimmer grows dimmer.” (Like I said, genius.)
Except for a stretch in the middle, when he was brilliant, Fredette was brutal.
Yes, he scored 32 points, but he took 29 shots to do it. He seemed to be wearing a blindfold from the 3-point arc — 3-for-15. Plus, he committed six turnovers and wandered aimlessly through the lane on defense like Moses in the desert. I’ve seen dead people play better defense. At least they occasionally trip people.
If his last college game is what he’s bringing to the NBA, then I’d say, in five years, he’s got a really good chance to be your Provo area Isuzu dealer.
As Reilly notes later, Fredette played 44 minutes against Florida and is asked to carry most of the scoring load for his team. His defense is definitely suspect, but he can’t be expected to expend a lot of energy on that end of the court if his team needs him to score 40 points to win. Cut the guy some slack.
“He’s a little Maravich,” a guy in a BYU shirt told me.
No! No, he isn’t! He’s not within a mile of Mardi Gras floats of Maravich. Maravich could get his shot off from the bottom of a swimming pool. He could get 40 in handcuffs. He averaged 44 points a game in college (to Fredette’s 28 this season) and that’s without the 3-point shot. With it, studies of his game film have shown, he would have averaged over 55.
Of course he’s not Pete Maravich, but why is Reilly devoting precious column space on ESPN.com on the rambling delusions of a BYU fan? Fredette doesn’t have Maravich’s handle, though he does have a wide range of scoop shots that would make Pistol Pete proud.
It was one of Fredette’s worst shooting nights of the season, but he still managed to score 32 points and lead his team to overtime. Reilly only wants to kick him while he’s down.
Where was he when Jimmer dropped 52 points on New Mexico, or 43 in a home win against a very good San Diego State defense? Or even five days prior to the Florida loss, when Fredette hit 7-of-12 three-pointers en route to BYU’s 18-point win against a pretty hot Gonzaga team?
Shooters shoot. And sometimes they have a night like Jimmer did against Florida.
After all the kid has accomplished this season, why does Reilly feel the need to devote 900 words about what he’s not?
This moment of madness brought to you by Muscle Milk®. It’s powerful protein. Drink. Evolve™
When Virginia Commonwealth’s name was called on Selection Sunday, there were more than a few eyebrows raised across the country. ESPN’s Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps and Hubert Davis even spent a few minutes railing on the inclusion of VCU (and UAB). In fairness, they weren’t arguing that the Rams weren’t a solid team, or even that they weren’t capable of making a run to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8, just that their resume wasn’t as good as those of Virginia Tech or Colorado.
But that didn’t stop VCU head coach Shaka Smart from using their words to motivate his team. The Rams had an especially tough road to the Final Four, and were underdogs in each and every game they played. It’s not like this was some underachieving team from the Big East. The Rams finished fourth (fourth!) in the Colonial Athletic Association, so their run to the Final Four truly came out of nowhere. Along the way, they’ve beaten five power conferences: USC (Pac-10), Georgetown (Big East), Purdue (Big Ten), Florida St. (ACC) and yesterday’s monumental upset of #1-seeded Kansas (Big 12).
And it’s not like these wins were nailbiters, either. Sure, the FSU game went into overtime, but they upended USC by 13, Georgetown and Purdue by 18 and Kansas by 10. They didn’t just beat these teams. They pounded them.
How did VCU do it? Despite being outrebounded on average by more than seven boards, the Rams combined stingy defense with the great tournament equalizer, the three-pointer. Try this stat on for size: In five games, VCU has shot better from three-point range (44%) than their opponents have shot from the field (39%). What’s amazing about the Rams’ hot shooting is that on the season, they made just 36% from long range.
America loves an underdog story and with VCU set to square off against Butler in the Final Four, we’re guaranteed that a mid-major will play in the title game for the second straight season.
That’s the great thing about a sudden-death tournament. And Muscle Milk would like to remind us that on any given day, the little guy can win.
From a press release issued by CBS Sports and Turner Sports:
CBS Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2011 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four® on Saturday, April 2 (6:00-11:00 PM, ET) tips-off with Butler taking on VCU (6:09 PM, ET). Connecticut against Kentucky follows 40 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr call the games along with Tracy Wolfson serving as reporter.
Coverage begins with THE ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR® (4:00-6:00 PM, ET) hosted by Greg Gumbel along with analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and Seth Davis, live from Houston, Texas.
I’d rather see Gus Johnson and Len Elmore work the games, but that’s a pipe dream at this point.
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