Category: March Madness (Page 49 of 56)

It was quite the scene at the FedEx Forum – #1 Memphis vs. #2 Tennessee. The Tigers were trying to continue the dream of an undefeated season while the Vols wanted to spoil the party. It was a back-and-forth affair, but the Vols triumphed, 66-62.

The game started with a flurry of three-pointers as the teams combined for nine made threes (six from the normally mediocre-shooting Tigers) in the first seven minutes. The shooting cooled off and the game was sloppy at times, but there was a ton of athleticism on display. The Tigers were down by as much as seven with under 12 minutes to go in the second half, but they worked their way back into the game by shutting down the Vols’ offense. But once Chris Douglas-Roberts extended the Tigers’ lead to three with 2:29 to go, the Vols went on an 8-1 run to close the game.

Freshman phenom Derrick Rose led all scorers with 23 points, and also posted five boards and five assists. Tyler Smith led the Vols with 16 points.

On a side note, it was fun to watch the Memphis Dance Team during the game. They were under one basket while the Memphis cheerleaders were under the other. The cheerleaders acted like normal cheerleaders, and got up to cheer anytime the Tigers did something good. Conversely, the members of the dance team were yelling at the refs, taunting the Tennessee players and generally making fools of themselves. They were even leaning in under the Vols’ basket in an attempt to distract Tennessee players while they were shooting free throws. It got so bad that even though I started watching the game as a neutral observer, I wanted to see Memphis lose just to spite the obnoxious dance team.

One of the girls got a hilarious taste of karma. When a Tennessee player drove in for a layup, she was leaning in waving her pom-pons, trying to get the player to miss the shot. A Memphis player collided with the Tennessee player at the rim and one of the players spilled off the court and right into her. She took a tumble to the ground.

Priceless.

Note to cheerleaders and dance team members around the country: You are there to cheer your team and to raise the spirits of your fans, not to berate the officials or taunt opposing players. I understand this is your whole life right now, but your every move is caught on camera so you should act accordingly.

It was a battle of #2 vs. #3 last night, and the Blue Devils held off the Tar Heels’ comeback attempt, ultimately prevailing, 89-78.

Duke is undersized, and had a tough time matching up with Tyler Hansbrough inside. He finished with 28 points and 18 rebounds. However, the rest of the team combined for just 16-48 (33%) from the field, while the Blue Devils countered by shooting 13-29 (45%) from long range. That included a blistering 6 of 8 performance from Greg Paulus, who led six Dookies in double figures with 18.

North Carolina was without point guard Ty Lawson, and it showed, as the Tar Heels committed 20 turnovers, many of them unforced.

With a win at UNC, Duke has the inside track now for the ACC title and the #1 seed in the East, which is vital because the first four games would be played in Raleigh and Charlotte.

The Gators had control for most of the game and capitalized on Ohio State’s dreadful 4-23 (17%) shooting from long range en route to an 84-75 win. Billy Donovan told his team that they were not “defending” anything – that they had to go out and play hungry, just like any other team – and that’s exactly what they did. The difference in the game was three-point shooting. The Buckeyes struggled for the entire game, while the Gators shot a blistering 10-18 (56%) from behind the arc.

A few random observations from the game:

The way Corey Brewer was writhing on the floor in the first half made me wonder if he was ever going to play basketball again. A minute later, he’s back in the game, going on to win Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, an award I thought should have gone to Al Horford. Here is a look at each player’s stats from the two games:

Brewer: 32 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks
Horford: 27 points, 29 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks

Brewer was terrific, especially defensively, but he only scored two points in the second half of the title game. Meanwhile, Horford scored 13 points in the second half – including several key jumpers and buzzer beaters – to ice the game for Florida. And how do you ignore Horford’s 29 rebounds?

But the best part about a Gator winning the MOP award is Billy Packer’s pronouncement towards the end of the game that Greg Oden was going to win it. Man, I love it when Billy’s wrong.

Speaking of Billy, he made some enemies tonight in Ohio with his pile-on statement at the end: “That’s some year for the Gators. National champions in football and now national champions in basketball.” That sound you hear is the groundbreaking of a Billy Packer voodoo doll factory in Columbus.

“Man, that’s some bullshit.” Some form of that statement is always uttered when a player gets called for what he believes to be an incorrect foul. It’s uncanny how players are always saying that right as the camera cuts to them heading to the bench. Othello Hunter filled the role nicely tonight.

Greg Oden is the real deal. It’s true; his performance in the tournament has not lived up to the hype. But his play against the best frontcourt in America – 25 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks – cements him in my mind as a top two pick. However, if I’m Jerry West and want the Grizzles to be an up-tempo team, I don’t know that I can pass on the jaw-dropping offense of Kevin Durant. That assumes that Memphis wins the lottery, of course.

I thought Oden’s block of Brewer in the first half was a foul. Sure, it was a spectacular play, but his body collided with Brewer’s and sent the Florida swingman tumbling to the floor. I guess the referee was thinking that the block had already occurred before the contact was made, because there’s no way Oden had the principle of verticality. Considering how tightly they were calling the Gator big men on the other end of the court, that play should have been called a foul.

When Jim Nantz was talking about how Oden “looks a little bit older,” saying that his mother carried around his birth certificate to prove his age, there was a shot of Oden’s mom and twenty-something brother. My wife continued Nantz’ statement: “And there’s his brother; he’s 10.”

Chris Richard is going to be a nice second round pick for some lucky NBA team. He’s 6’9”, strong as a bull, and showed some nice touch and quickness down low.

In my mind, Joakim Noah has officially been passed by Al Horford and Corey Brewer as a NBA prospect. Noah’s name might be called before Brewer’s, but Horford’s display of a clutch face up game in the second half makes him a legitimate top five pick. He already has the toughness and defense to play at the next level and if he can develop a consistent jumper, we might be looking at the next Elton Brand. Noah is still a lottery pick, but his lack of a 15’ jump shot is going to weigh down his draft stock. Speaking of Jo, what was the deal with that post game interview? You and your buddies are going to party for a couple of days? Really? Your team has just become the first in 15 years to win back-to-back titles and that’s what you want to say to the world?

So who thinks Donovan is going to jet to Kentucky? I’d be surprised if Florida didn’t match any offer the Wildcats put on the table.

After a slow start, this year’s tournament has really picked up. Looking back, the scores of the Elite Eight games were a little misleading. Memphis gave the Buckeyes a pretty good run, while that UCLA/Kansas game was nip and tuck until the Jayhawks’ wheels came off at the very end. (Remind me to never pick a Bill Self-led team to go to the Final Four again.) The Oregon/Florida game was closer than the score would indicate and G’town’s comeback against a talented (yet directionless) North Carolina squad provided some of the best moments of the tournament.

So, now we’ve got our Final Four, and we couldn’t have two better matchups. In the early game, we have the battle of two seven-footers — one’s a freshman phenom who has been destined for stardom since he was just a pup, while the other is a battle-tested junior who has worked on his game, developing into a future lottery pick. In the late game, we’ve got a rematch of last year’s title bout and, save for Jordan Farmar, all the stars from both teams stayed in school to play for this very opportunity.

This is a Final Four with some serious star power…

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