Really, Memphis. Really. Reeeaaally. Really?
I admitted in my predictions that I didn't know how good Memphis really was. They were rarely on TV this season, and they play in a conference with teams such as Southern Methodist and Rice (sorry, Andrew). If you go from Christmas through St. Patrick's Day without losing, you're good, no doubt. But it was nearly impossible to tell just how good a team like this was.
Well, we found out Thursday night. Missouri gave Memphis a good ol' Big 12 whoopin'. The Tigers (Mizzou, that is) put up 102 points on a Tiger team (Memphis, that is) that allowed just 58 points per game this season. Interestingly, Missouri coach Mike Anderson coached the last Conference USA team to beat Memphis--he was UAB's coach when they took down Memphis just 62 conference games ago.
So I put too much stock in unknown Memphis, picking them to take down UConn for a Final Four spot. But that's OK, because ...
The Big East continues to carry my bracket, with an assist from the overrated ACC. Villanova schooled Duke Thursday, and made it look easy. The Blue Devils continue to disappoint (unless you're me), as they have not made it to the Elite Eight since 2004. Now if only Gonzaga can make UNC suffer the same fate this evening ...
Pitt continued to look as though they have no interest whatsoever in winning the national championship, yet they pulled out another close victory. They seem destined to fall at some point if they keep this up (they've won by 10, 8 and 5 against weaker opponents), but I have to give them credit for grinding out victories to this point. And credit is also due to the Panthers for making it to their first ever regional final.
UConn handled Little 10 opponent Purdue with relative ease, transforming them into a perimeter team with the imposing presence of Hasheem Thabeet down low. Michigan State now carries the torch for the Big Ten, as they face Kansas in a sweet coaching match up--Tom Izzo vs. Bill Self. Sweet announcing match up as well--that's right, Gus Johnson will be doing this one, as well as the Louisville-Arizona game. Who wants a buzzer beater? I do! I do!
Showing posts with label Memphis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memphis. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Ore-gone
The Illini just aren't there yet. They had a very good season, finishing second in the Big Ten regular season. Bruce Weber has garnered commitments from some strong recruits, and while they'll lose Chester Frazier, Trent Meacham and Calvin Brock, the Mikes--Tisdale and Davis--are only sophomores, and so is Demetri McCamey.
Unfortunately, some of those players looked like deer in headlights in Thursday's 76-72 loss to Western Kentucky in Portland. The game wasn't close--it was a 13-point game with 3:17 to go--until the Illini stormed back a la their game against Arizona in 2005. Mike Tisdale was invisible (zero points) unless you count his four personal fouls, and McCamey did sneak into double-figures with 10 points, but was 0-5 from behind the arc. Meacham carried Illinois with four treys and 24 points, but Western Kentucky dropped nine three-balls and outscored the Illini by eight at the foul line.
Illinois finished the season 24-10, and WKU moves on to face a Gonzaga team that got a bit of a scare in their first round game with the Akron Zips.
But the scare of the day goes to Cal State Northridge, who led #2 seed Memphis by six with 10:12 remaining. The Tigers were bailed out by a guy named Sallie, as he dropped 10 threes (!) and scored 35 in the 81-70 Memphis win. Paging Robert Dozier? Paging Shawn Taggart? Anyone? I have you in the Final Four, Memphis! Get it together!
I hope UT-Chattanooga and Radford enjoyed their short-lived dance; their March was mostly sadness. The Mocs and Highlanders (apparently they're not immortal) lost to #1 seeds UConn and UNC, respectively, by an average of 49.5 points.
P.S. I was 14-2 on day one, losing Butler and Clemson. It was a day without many shockers (see the "Notable Number"), so many people had a strong start. On to day two!
Unfortunately, some of those players looked like deer in headlights in Thursday's 76-72 loss to Western Kentucky in Portland. The game wasn't close--it was a 13-point game with 3:17 to go--until the Illini stormed back a la their game against Arizona in 2005. Mike Tisdale was invisible (zero points) unless you count his four personal fouls, and McCamey did sneak into double-figures with 10 points, but was 0-5 from behind the arc. Meacham carried Illinois with four treys and 24 points, but Western Kentucky dropped nine three-balls and outscored the Illini by eight at the foul line.
Illinois finished the season 24-10, and WKU moves on to face a Gonzaga team that got a bit of a scare in their first round game with the Akron Zips.
But the scare of the day goes to Cal State Northridge, who led #2 seed Memphis by six with 10:12 remaining. The Tigers were bailed out by a guy named Sallie, as he dropped 10 threes (!) and scored 35 in the 81-70 Memphis win. Paging Robert Dozier? Paging Shawn Taggart? Anyone? I have you in the Final Four, Memphis! Get it together!
I hope UT-Chattanooga and Radford enjoyed their short-lived dance; their March was mostly sadness. The Mocs and Highlanders (apparently they're not immortal) lost to #1 seeds UConn and UNC, respectively, by an average of 49.5 points.
P.S. I was 14-2 on day one, losing Butler and Clemson. It was a day without many shockers (see the "Notable Number"), so many people had a strong start. On to day two!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The road to Detroit
First Round
Midwest
Louisville over Morehead St. I had Alabama St. winning this one, but then they lost the play-in game and completely screwed up my bracket.
Ohio St. over Siena. They're playing this game in Ohio! Not fair!
Utah over Arizona. Until 2007, Arizona had a player with one of the greatest names of all time: Mustafa Shakur. The loss of such a wonderfully-named player still haunts them.
Wake Forest over Cleveland St. Cleveland's not even a state, is it?
West Virginia over Dayton. Dayton's becoming a trendy pick, but West Virginia beat Pitt and Villanova, and Alex Ruoff can play.
Kansas over North Dakota St. Bill Self's squad won the regular season Big 12 title, and he'll have them ready to make a run in the tourney.
Boston College over USC. Middle-of-the-pack ACC over middle-of-the-pack Pac-10.
Michigan St. over Robert Morris. The Big Ten can't beat everyone, but they can beat the Northeast Conference.
West
UConn over UT-Chattanooga. The Mocs did win the SoCon tourney, and Stephen McDowell made the second most 3-pointers in the nation ... but no.
Texas A&M over BYU. I like the Aggies' size over the Cougars' shooting.
Purdue over Northern Iowa. UNI has a chance to pull the ol' 12/5 upset, but Robbie Hummel is healthy and the Boilermakers have a big man down low in JaJuan Johnson.
Washington over Mississippi St. MSU beat Tennessee (twice), LSU and Kentucky, and if they get hot from downtown, they could take it. But the Huskies score points by the bucketful, and I'll keep my money on them.
Marquette over Utah St. This game will be in Idaho, which neighbors Utah, and that's wack. But I still think Marquette has the firepower to take down a WAC team, even if they have lost five of six after losing stud Dominic James.
Missouri over Cornell. Those 1500 SATs won't do you any good against the run-and-gun Tigers!
Maryland over Cal. See: Boston College over USC.
Memphis over Cal State Northridge. Just a warm-up for Calipari's boys.
East
Pitt over E. Tenn. St. Just too many abbreviations in E. Tenn. St. You can't win when even your name is half-assed.
Tennesee over Oklahoma St. This one's tough. Could be a shootout, and I'll put the money on Bruce Pearl finding a way to get the win.
Florida St. over Wisconsin. The Badgers lost to Marquette, UConn, Texas, Michigan St. and Purdue (twice). Florida St. can handle 'em.
Portland St. over Xavier. I wanted to pick an upset. Xavier's young, Portland St. can shoot the trey. Go get 'em, Vikings!
UCLA over VCU. If only VCU had one more letter, then maybe they could win this rather acronymous match-up.
Villanova over American. Um, Villanova's just better.
Texas over Minnesota. I had a hard time with this one, but I guess I'll take A.J. Abrams over ... wait, who the heck does Minnesota have, anyways?
Duke over Binghamton. I'm pretty sure I've never heard of Binghamton.
South
UNC over Radford. I'm pretty sure I've never heard of Radford either.
Butler over LSU. Butler beat Xavier, and Xavier beat LSU. The transitive property never fails.
Western Kentucky over Illinois. Did you know that WKU beat Louisville? Illinois has no go-to guard, hasn't been able to close out games lately, and lost Chester Frazier to injury. Plus there has to be a 12/5 upset.
Gonzaga
over Akron. The Zags are my Cinderella team. Oh, wait, that was like eight years ago, you say? A 4 seed can't be a Cinderella? How about a sleeping beauty, then?
Arizona St. over Temple. Dionte Christmas is good, but he's all they've got.
Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin St. OK, I'm positive Stephen F. Austin isn't a state.
Clemson over Michigan. I'm not even sure Michigan should be dancing, though they do have talent and could cause some trouble.
Oklahoma over Morgan St. Blake Griffin = good. MEAC = bad.
Second round
Midwest
Louisville over Ohio St. The Buckeyes made a nice run in the Big Ten tourney, but Louisville won their conference tourney. Take that!
Wake Forest over Utah. Jeff Teague is sweet. Sweet Sixteen, that is.
Kansas over West Virginia. I think WVU could pull off the upset, but Bill Self will keep the back-to-back dream alive a little longer.
Michigan St. over Boston College. MSU's got Izzo, and they've got they best rebounders in the country.
West
UConn over Texas A & M. Aggies' big men ... meet Hasheem Thabeet.
Purdue over Washington. Defense over offense.
Missouri over Marquette. The Golden Eagles just aren't the team they were two months ago. Mizzou, on the other hand, won the Big 12 tourney.
Memphis over Maryland. Put a pin in the Terrapins.
East
Pitt over Tennessee. The Vols aren't disciplined enough to take down one of the best.
Florida St. over Portland St. It was fun while it lasted, Vikings.
Villanova over UCLA. Villanova beat Pitt once and Syracuse twice. They'll ruin the Bruins.
Duke over Texas. The Dookies are a little soft, but Gerald Henderson is a man.
South
UNC over Butler. Ty Lawson or no Ty Lawson, don't matta.
Gonzaga over Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers won't be able to top the hill of threes built by Gonzaga. Wow, that was awful.
Syracuse over Arizona St. They may not even need overtime!
Oklahoma over Clemson. Terrence Oglesby can only do so much.
Sweet Sixteen
Midwest
Louisville over Wake Forest. The Deacons aren't quite there yet.
Kansas over Michigan St. Can you tell I'm not real big on the Big Ten?
West
UConn over Purdue. Told ya I'm not big on the Big Ten.
Memphis over Missouri. I gotta be honest: I don't know how to judge Memphis since they play in Conference USA and weren't on the tube a whole lot this year. But I think they're good enough to beat the Tigers.
East
Pitt over Florida St. FSU meets their match, and more.
Villanova over Duke. It's no fluke Duke will get nuked earlier than expected--they do it every year.
South
Gonz
aga over UNC. I guess you could say this is my upset special. I'm counting on an old-fashioned shootout, a not-100% Ty Lawson, and a classic ACC flameout.
Oklahoma over Syracuse. The Orange had a great (and exciting, and long) conference tournament, but they only finished sixth in the regular season.
Elite Eight
Midwest
Louisville over Kansas. Great coaching match-up, great overall match-up, but Louisville is older and better.
West
Memphis over UConn. The Tigers haven't lost since Christmas--can they make it to Easter?
East
Pitt over Villanova. The Wildcats won by 10 earlier this year, but move ova 'Nova, Pitt's got revenge on their mind.
South
Oklahoma over Gonzaga. The Sooners can match any style of play, and they have more talent than the Zags.
Final Four
Louisville over Memphis. Louisville didn't just survive the insane gauntlet that is the Big East--they won the regular season and conference tournament titles. They're good.
Pitt over Oklahoma. DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Levance Fields, Jermaine Dixon--this team's loaded.
National Championship game
Pitt over Louisville. Pitino's squad won by six in the regular season, but that was in
Looavul. Pitt was undefeated at the time, but fell victim to a 24-8 Cardinals run over the final nine minutes. Revenge is a dish best served in April.
Midwest
Louisville over Morehead St. I had Alabama St. winning this one, but then they lost the play-in game and completely screwed up my bracket.
Ohio St. over Siena. They're playing this game in Ohio! Not fair!
Utah over Arizona. Until 2007, Arizona had a player with one of the greatest names of all time: Mustafa Shakur. The loss of such a wonderfully-named player still haunts them.
Wake Forest over Cleveland St. Cleveland's not even a state, is it?
West Virginia over Dayton. Dayton's becoming a trendy pick, but West Virginia beat Pitt and Villanova, and Alex Ruoff can play.
Kansas over North Dakota St. Bill Self's squad won the regular season Big 12 title, and he'll have them ready to make a run in the tourney.
Boston College over USC. Middle-of-the-pack ACC over middle-of-the-pack Pac-10.
Michigan St. over Robert Morris. The Big Ten can't beat everyone, but they can beat the Northeast Conference.
West
UConn over UT-Chattanooga. The Mocs did win the SoCon tourney, and Stephen McDowell made the second most 3-pointers in the nation ... but no.
Texas A&M over BYU. I like the Aggies' size over the Cougars' shooting.
Purdue over Northern Iowa. UNI has a chance to pull the ol' 12/5 upset, but Robbie Hummel is healthy and the Boilermakers have a big man down low in JaJuan Johnson.
Washington over Mississippi St. MSU beat Tennessee (twice), LSU and Kentucky, and if they get hot from downtown, they could take it. But the Huskies score points by the bucketful, and I'll keep my money on them.
Marquette over Utah St. This game will be in Idaho, which neighbors Utah, and that's wack. But I still think Marquette has the firepower to take down a WAC team, even if they have lost five of six after losing stud Dominic James.
Missouri over Cornell. Those 1500 SATs won't do you any good against the run-and-gun Tigers!
Maryland over Cal. See: Boston College over USC.
Memphis over Cal State Northridge. Just a warm-up for Calipari's boys.
East
Pitt over E. Tenn. St. Just too many abbreviations in E. Tenn. St. You can't win when even your name is half-assed.
Tennesee over Oklahoma St. This one's tough. Could be a shootout, and I'll put the money on Bruce Pearl finding a way to get the win.
Florida St. over Wisconsin. The Badgers lost to Marquette, UConn, Texas, Michigan St. and Purdue (twice). Florida St. can handle 'em.
Portland St. over Xavier. I wanted to pick an upset. Xavier's young, Portland St. can shoot the trey. Go get 'em, Vikings!
UCLA over VCU. If only VCU had one more letter, then maybe they could win this rather acronymous match-up.
Villanova over American. Um, Villanova's just better.
Texas over Minnesota. I had a hard time with this one, but I guess I'll take A.J. Abrams over ... wait, who the heck does Minnesota have, anyways?
Duke over Binghamton. I'm pretty sure I've never heard of Binghamton.
South
UNC over Radford. I'm pretty sure I've never heard of Radford either.
Butler over LSU. Butler beat Xavier, and Xavier beat LSU. The transitive property never fails.
Western Kentucky over Illinois. Did you know that WKU beat Louisville? Illinois has no go-to guard, hasn't been able to close out games lately, and lost Chester Frazier to injury. Plus there has to be a 12/5 upset.
Gonzaga
over Akron. The Zags are my Cinderella team. Oh, wait, that was like eight years ago, you say? A 4 seed can't be a Cinderella? How about a sleeping beauty, then?Arizona St. over Temple. Dionte Christmas is good, but he's all they've got.
Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin St. OK, I'm positive Stephen F. Austin isn't a state.
Clemson over Michigan. I'm not even sure Michigan should be dancing, though they do have talent and could cause some trouble.
Oklahoma over Morgan St. Blake Griffin = good. MEAC = bad.
Second round
Midwest
Louisville over Ohio St. The Buckeyes made a nice run in the Big Ten tourney, but Louisville won their conference tourney. Take that!
Wake Forest over Utah. Jeff Teague is sweet. Sweet Sixteen, that is.
Kansas over West Virginia. I think WVU could pull off the upset, but Bill Self will keep the back-to-back dream alive a little longer.
Michigan St. over Boston College. MSU's got Izzo, and they've got they best rebounders in the country.
West
UConn over Texas A & M. Aggies' big men ... meet Hasheem Thabeet.
Purdue over Washington. Defense over offense.
Missouri over Marquette. The Golden Eagles just aren't the team they were two months ago. Mizzou, on the other hand, won the Big 12 tourney.
Memphis over Maryland. Put a pin in the Terrapins.
East
Pitt over Tennessee. The Vols aren't disciplined enough to take down one of the best.
Florida St. over Portland St. It was fun while it lasted, Vikings.
Villanova over UCLA. Villanova beat Pitt once and Syracuse twice. They'll ruin the Bruins.
Duke over Texas. The Dookies are a little soft, but Gerald Henderson is a man.
South
UNC over Butler. Ty Lawson or no Ty Lawson, don't matta.
Gonzaga over Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers won't be able to top the hill of threes built by Gonzaga. Wow, that was awful.
Syracuse over Arizona St. They may not even need overtime!
Oklahoma over Clemson. Terrence Oglesby can only do so much.
Sweet Sixteen
Midwest
Louisville over Wake Forest. The Deacons aren't quite there yet.
Kansas over Michigan St. Can you tell I'm not real big on the Big Ten?
West
UConn over Purdue. Told ya I'm not big on the Big Ten.
Memphis over Missouri. I gotta be honest: I don't know how to judge Memphis since they play in Conference USA and weren't on the tube a whole lot this year. But I think they're good enough to beat the Tigers.
East
Pitt over Florida St. FSU meets their match, and more.
Villanova over Duke. It's no fluke Duke will get nuked earlier than expected--they do it every year.
South
Gonz
aga over UNC. I guess you could say this is my upset special. I'm counting on an old-fashioned shootout, a not-100% Ty Lawson, and a classic ACC flameout.Oklahoma over Syracuse. The Orange had a great (and exciting, and long) conference tournament, but they only finished sixth in the regular season.
Elite Eight
Midwest
Louisville over Kansas. Great coaching match-up, great overall match-up, but Louisville is older and better.
West
Memphis over UConn. The Tigers haven't lost since Christmas--can they make it to Easter?
East
Pitt over Villanova. The Wildcats won by 10 earlier this year, but move ova 'Nova, Pitt's got revenge on their mind.
South
Oklahoma over Gonzaga. The Sooners can match any style of play, and they have more talent than the Zags.
Final Four
Louisville over Memphis. Louisville didn't just survive the insane gauntlet that is the Big East--they won the regular season and conference tournament titles. They're good.
Pitt over Oklahoma. DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Levance Fields, Jermaine Dixon--this team's loaded.
National Championship game
Pitt over Louisville. Pitino's squad won by six in the regular season, but that was in
Looavul. Pitt was undefeated at the time, but fell victim to a 24-8 Cardinals run over the final nine minutes. Revenge is a dish best served in April. Are You There God? It's me, March Madness.
It’s March, and you know what that means: It’s Fire Prevention Month!
Oh, and it’s time for March Madness! Ah, March Madness—an annual tradition of buzzer-beaters, upsets, watching basketball at work while trying not to get caught, and—most exciting of all—lots of numbers accompanied by alliterative adjectives (e.g. Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four). It’s an extended sports spectacle that grabs the attention of Americans young and old and fills the coffers of bookies everywhere. Sixty-four teams enter with one common goal: to apply the concept of Murphy’s Law to my bracket by losing if I pick them to win and winning if I pick them to lose.
March Madness is one of my favorite times of year, mainly because it features 126 hours of sweet hoops action spread out over 10 different days. But there are many other reasons to feel much gladness about March Madness:
-You get to hear Gus Johnson call last-second shots. “Rises and FIRRRRRRES … GOT IT!!!!”
Sometimes I spice up my day by pretending Gus Johnson is announcing my actions. As in: “He drives down the road, looks right as he goes to parallel park, squeezes in there, straightens it OUUUUUUUUUTTTTT … GOT IT!!!” If you don’t know what I’m talking about, or even if you do, click here, sit back and enjoy the beautiful rhetorical stylings of the third greatest announcer in the world.
-The Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge!
-It means baseball’s Opening Day is just around the corner. In fact, the championship game often coincides with the Cubs’ first game (like it does this year), which is like having your birthday on Christmas or buying a house and discovering that it comes with a BMW.
-It’s college basketball with no Dick Vitale. Why won’t he stop yelling at me? I don’t care what BMOC stands for. What did he say? The ACC is strong this year? I can’t understand him when he screams like that. He sounds like Kermit the Frog if he were afflicted by voice imodulation disorder and injected with some sort of serum limiting his speech to strange and ridiculous exaggerations.
-Winning the Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge!
-One word: Drama. It’s Win or Go Home. There’s something natural and Darwinian about it. Teams play 25+ games, fighting and clawing to claim a spot in the tourney, and then all of a sudden—BAM!—a last-second heave from half court (hopefully called by Gus Johnson) can send them packing ‘til next year. There’s no best of five, no byes, no Papajohns.com Bowl. It’s drama to the 64th power.
If you want to reminisce, or perhaps whet the palate in preparation for this year’s Big Dance, check out some of these clips:
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