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I’m going to pretend I work for ESPN and answer the questions that the Worldwide Leader asked its college basketball writers.
What are you most looking forward to Saturday?
Seeing just what kind of crowd Butler is able to draw and whether or not it helps Bulldogs beat Michigan State. Final Four crowds are notoriously corporate and laid back, so if the Butler faithful (and the newly converted) can create some real home court atmosphere, it will make things tough for Michigan State. I’ll also be watching how the Bulldogs handle playing in a dome; they’re used to playing in smaller gyms and fieldhouses in the Horizon League.
At the end of the day, whose performance will we be talking about?
There are a long list of possibilities, but Nolan Smith is playing excellent basketball of late. He’s the only Duke guard that will be able to get into the lane and create his own shot, and his floater will be very useful against West Virginia’s zone. And for all of the talk of Jon Scheyer’s “clutch-ness,” Smith isn’t afraid to take the big shot either.
Butler-Michigan State: Who wins and why?
Despite the Spartans’ experience, I think the Bulldogs win a tight one. They’ve already beat two teams (Syracuse, K-State) that are better than Michigan State, so they appear to be the better team. The question is — can they put all the distractions and the sheer magnitude of the game behind them and just play ball? I think they can.
Duke-West Virginia: Who wins and why?
I have a feeling this game will be nip-and-tuck the entire way with the Blue Devils pulling away at the end with a big three and excellent free throw shooting. Even though it was a 2-3, Baylor’s zone will get Duke ready to face the Mountaineers’ 1-3-1. I don’t expect West Virginia to continue to shoot the three like they did against Kentucky — Duke is excellent at guarding the arc.
Be sure to check back around tip-off — I’ll be tweeting during both games.
And this is news…why? Well, because Mike Leake was taken with the eighth overall pick in last June’s draft and has yet to throw a pitch in the minors yet. Not one.
The 22-year-old Leake beat out Travis Wood, a second-round pick in 2005, and Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman, who was hampered by lower back spasms late in spring training.
“There’s no words to describe it, right now,” said Leake, the former Arizona State star who was selected eighth overall in last June’s draft. “Maybe in a couple days.”
Chapman, who agreed to a $30.25 million, six-year deal in January, was optioned to Triple-A Louisville.
Granted, Leake will actually be reassigned to the minors before Cincinnati needs a fifth starter, but it’s still impressive that he made the big league club without spending at least a couple months in Triple A. Tim Lincecum, the Giants’ two-time Cy Young winner, even spent some time in the minors before he was called up to The Show.
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ESPN sideline reporter and current “Dancing with the Stars” contestant Erin Andrews is being harassed once again. According to attorney Michael Grossman, a man has sent Andrews at least dozen threatening e-mails since September.
From ESPN.com:
DirecTV provided them to Andrews’ representatives Thursday, but it was not immediately clear to whom the e-mails were addressed.
The e-mails were at first sexual, but the most recent were explicitly violent and “threatened Erin with murder,” Grossman said. They also had details about location and method.
The messages discuss the case of Michael David Barrett, who was sentenced last month to 2½ years in federal prison for secretly shooting nude videos of the ESPN reporter.
“He refers to Barrett in his e-mail in a way to make clear to us that situation had some influence,” Grossman said, but added that the man appeared to have no ties to Barrett.
This poor woman. Hopefully the whole ordeal with last year’s stalker has made her stronger. As of now, she’s doesn’t plan on quitting “Dancing with the Stars,” and security has been hired to protect her and her family.
It was believed that the Browns would target a cornerback such as Florida’s Joe Haden with the No. 7 overall pick in this month’s draft. But that was before the team acquired Sheldon Brown from the Eagles on Friday.
Along with Brown, Cleveland also acquired linebacker Chris Gocong from Philadelphia in exchange for linebacker Alex Hall, plus a fourth-round pick and a fifth-rounder. Gocong is a solid fit for the Browns’ 3-4 defense and will likely start opposite Matt Roth on the outside.
But the more intriguing player in this trade is Brown, because he signifies that Cleveland probably won’t draft a cornerback at No. 7. Brown is 31 years old, but he’s still playing at a high level and the Browns restructured his contract, which now goes through 2012. He’ll pair up with Eric Wright to form a now above average cornerback tandem in Cleveland.
Team president Mike Holmgren is probably hoping/banking on Tennessee’s Eric Berry slips to No. 7, seeing as how safety is now the Browns’ biggest need. But will Berry be there? Multiple teams that pick ahead of the Browns (including the Buccaneers and Seahawks) have been linked to Berry in mock drafts, although that means nothing at this point. Either way, Holmgren knew that he had to address his need at cornerback and may have felt that Haden would have been a reach at No. 7. If Berry falls to Cleveland in the first round, then Holmgren would have done very well in addressing the Browns’ defensive needs.
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