As I was watching the end of the Kansas/VCU game, I thought of the scene in “Ghostbusters” when the gang is trying to explain the situation to the mayor of New York.
Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, “biblical”?
Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Venkman: Exactly.
Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…
Winston: The dead rising from the grave!
Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!
That’s how I feel about the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Heading in, I really liked three of the #1 seeds (Ohio State, Kansas and Duke, in that order) and felt good enough about Pitt to put all four #1 seeds through to the Final Four in my bracket. Fast forward two weeks and all four #1 seeds are gone, thanks to the VCU Rams, who upended the Jayhawks on Sunday.
How did they do it? What else…three-point shooting, the great equalizer. The Rams were 12-of-25 (48%) from 3PT, while the Jayhawks went a brutal 2-for-22 (9%) from behind the stripe. It wasn’t just one guy, but senior Tyrel Reed, a 39% 3PT shooter, was especially brutal, making just 1-for-8 from long range. The Jayhawks were also awful from the free throw line, hitting just 15-of-28 from the charity stripe.
Kansas outrebounded VCU 42-to-31, had four more steals, five more blocks and one fewer turnover, but it doesn’t matter if you are going to attempt 22 threes and only make two of them.
Jamie Skeen was big for the Rams, scoring 26 points, nailing 4-of-7 threes and hitting 10-of-12 from the free throw line. He also led VCU in rebounds with nine. Considering the competition, it was his best game of the season and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The VCU Rams are in the Final Four. Not bad for a team that many thought didn’t even deserve a bid in the first place.
