Category: NCAA Basketball

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun after yesterday’s loss to George Mason, as reported in a fine column by Michael Wilbon:

“I can only imagine, and probably better than most, the feeling they must have on that campus and in that locker room,” Calhoun said. “Those kids, many of whom were passed over by the Big East schools and others . . . I tip my hat to their conviction, to staying with what they have, to the incredible coaching job that [Larranaga] did. I feel a great deal of inner joy, honestly, about what they must be going through right now, something they probably never could have imagined. We have imagined it, and we’ve done it. But they could never have imagined that.”

Every kid who ever took a shot imagines it, but few on George Mason’s team could have expected it. Nice of Calhoun to appreciate their joy.

NewMexiKen would be remiss to allow the death of basketball coach Ray Meyer at age 92 to pass without mentioning the time the DePaul coach dropped by our high school cafeteria to recruit a classmate. All these years later I can still remember the scene and how awestruck we all were — nudging each other and whispering. Meyer was already a legend, having coached basketball’s first big man, 6-10 George Mikan.

Our classmate went on to play for DePaul; at 6-10, he was the tallest player there since Mikan (1941-1945).

32 sudden death games in two days; 16 yesterday, 16 today. Win or go home. NewMexiKen only picked 11 correct in Thursday’s brackets (damn those comebacks by George Washington and Indiana); hope we all do better today.

Bear Down! Arizona.

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (registration required):

2. Fill your bracket out backwards.

That’s right, backwards.

“After thinking hard about the tournament and potential matchups, decide first who you think is most likely to win the whole shebang,” says Yale professor Edward Kaplan, who co-authored a mathematical analysis of NCAA tournament pools. “Pen that team in as your winner, then work backwards, [writing it in for the previous five rounds].

“Next, decide your pick for the loser in the championship game, then the two losing Final Four teams. Keep working backwards until you have filled in the entire draw.”

3. Make sure your national champion has at least one former McDonald’s All-American on its roster. Only one winner since 1979 hasn’t.

And my personal favorite:

11. Listen extra carefully to what Dick Vitale, Billy Packer and Jay Bilas have to say the next few days about who’ll win, why they’ll win and how they’ll win.

Then, do the exact opposite.

Jon at Albloggerque has a great take on the choreography of basketball and why today’s uniforms are harming the aesthetic of the game.

Read it all but here’s the jist:

But when it comes right down to it, there is more to sport than winning. It has to be enjoyable to watch. And basketball has a special place in sports. For one thing bball is the most like dance. The ball is the melody and the players, like dancers, leap and streak into a multitude of jazz variations of that one theme: the flight of the basketball. It flies from player to player, end to end, riff to rumble, and eventually we watch someone with artistry and deftness stick it just right.

Part of the beauty of it is watching the athletes themselves. Their physiques are totally awesome. At least we think they are…because we really can’t see them for all that loose and shapeless clothing.

… was played on this date in 1896 at Iowa City, Iowa. The University of Chicago defeated the University of Iowa 15 to 12.

A pair of twins from Cameroon have signed to play basketball for the University of Arizona. One is 6-5, the other 6-7, and both can dunk.

And they’re women.

The under construction John Paul Jones Arena at The University of Virginia is running a cool $130 million. One man, a 1976 Virginia graduate named Jones, gave $35 million toward the costs. The full name is in honor of the donor’s father, not the naval hero.

The site linked above has all you’d want to know.

NewMexiKen’s oldest child is a graduate of UVa, which makes it one of my vicarious alma maters.

Dave Leitao is the new Virginia men’s basketball coach.

DePaul men’s basketball coach Dave Leitao agreed yesterday to a contract to become the head coach at the University of Virginia, sources said. The Cavaliers are expected to introduce Leitao, who will become their first African American head coach in any sport at the school, at a news conference in Charlottesville early next week.

The Washington Post

Fantastic Four – Best basketball weekend ever: Comebacks! Overtimes! Bad coaching! By Robert Weintraub. An excerpt:

Still, these questionable moves are small beer next to the plays “drawn up” in the endgame by Kentucky’s Tubby Smith and Arizona’s Lute Olson. Two coaches who have won national championships. Two graduates of the Andy Reid School of Clock Management and Game-Ending Infamy.

Don’t rail against Olson because the Wildcats blew a 15-point lead in the span of a single TV timeout. Perhaps owing to a home-court edge the tournament supposedly eradicated years ago, Illinois won late-game favor from whistle-swallowing referees who allowed the final minutes to turn into an episode of The Shield. Even with the historic comeback, Arizona still had the game in its hands with seconds left. So, what does Lute draw up? A clear-out for Salim Stoudamire, who was off during the game but hit game-winners in the regular-season finale and 48 hours previous against Oklahoma State? Perhaps a simple two-man game with Stoudamire and big man Channing Frye, who dominated inside all night? Nope, he put the ball in the hands of Hassan Adams, a brilliant offensive rebounder who can’t pass or sink outside shots. Adams should’ve been crashing the boards to tip in a potential Stoudamire miss. Instead, he heaved an off-balance chuck—and this crazy shot didn’t come close to going in.

NewMexiKen promised to link back to Thinking ahead to the Final Four, but was so discouraged by Arizona’s loss I forgot.

I said that in Chicago, the winner of the Arizona-Oklahoma State game would go to St. Louis. I was wrong, it’s Illinois.

In Albuquerque, I said it would be the winner of the Louisville-Washington game, and it’s Louisville.

In Syracuse, I thought North Carolina would win, and that was correct.

For Austin, I predicted the winner of the Utah-Kentucky game would emerge, but Michigan State defeated Kentucky.

Two for four.

Louisville and Michigan State showed great desire, winning in overtime and double overtime respectively, but my choice to win it all is Illinois, which showed they would not be denied. If not, may Roy Williams of North Carolina finally win a championship.

“I think it’s a game that will be shown many, many times,” said Weber.

Not in the greater Tucson area, it won’t.

Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com

Jason, official youngest son of NewMexiKen, called it on Wednesday: “Illinois over Arizona (in the best game of the tourney)”

like NewMexiKen is, but Michael Wilbon appreciates In Overtime, an All-Timer.

The photo below is the game winner by Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire with 2.8 seconds left. Arizona beat Oklahoma State 79-78.

Stoudamire was four for four in the closing minutes.

SI’s Seth Davis picks Arizona, Louisville, North Carolina and Duke.

Some interesting numbers from Salon’s King Kaufman:

Here’s the number of first-round upsets, not counting 9-over-8, in each of the last 10 years:

1996 — 6
1997 — 5
1998 — 8
1999 — 7
2000 — 3
2001 — 9
2002 — 7
2003 — 5
2004 — 3
2005 — 5 …

Here are second-round upsets over the last 10 years, not counting 5-over-4. Keep in mind, the second round is only 16 games, half as many as the first:

1996 — 3
1997 — 5
1998 — 3
1999 — 6
2000 — 8
2001 — 3
2002 — 5
2003 — 4
2004 — 5
2005 — 5

So over the last 10 years there have been 58 upsets in the first round, or one every 5.5 games. In the second round there have been 47 upsets, one every 3.4 games.

And, for all the talking heads nonsense last weekend about “parity,” no real trends, though Kaufman theorizes that the NCAA is seeding the tournament better.

Here’s who NewMexiKen thinks will be booking a trip to St. Louis:

Chicago: The winner of the Arizona-Oklahoma State game.

Albuquerque: The winner of the Louisville-Washington game.

Syracuse: North Carolina.

Austin: The winner of the Utah-Kentucky game.

I promise to link back to this Sunday evening for the appropriate praise or ridicule.

You are invited to climb out on your own limb in Comments.

Stanford fan Broken Cowboy also sees problems with the CBS coverage of the NCAA tournament:

CBS doesn’t seem to like to show early round games in their entirety; instead they feel like they have to jump around. So while I was trying to watch Stanford and Mississippi State, Gumbel interrupted the action towards the end of the first half and told me I’d have to watch Kansas and Bucknell. No problem, though. Stanford was up 39-27, and things were looking good.

But as Kansas and Bucknell were running back and forth across my screen, the ticker in the corner told me that Mississippi State was coming back and coming back quickly. When CBS decided to send us back to our original game, it was tied at 41. Damn you, CBS. Then when the Bulldogs started to pull away in the second half, opening up a ten-point lead, Gumbel again switched us back to the Kansas game. From there the lead exploded, and the Cardinal ended up on the business end of a mysterious blowout. Why mysterious? Because they played pretty well — actually better than Mississippi State — when I was watching. Take a look:

Televised:
24:43 — Stanford 51, Miss. State 49
Not Televised:
15:17 — Miss. State 44, Stanford 19

There could be other factors involved, but I choose to blame CBS.

Washington Post columnist Mike Wise tells you why you can root for Mississippi State’s Lawrence Roberts III.

The West Virginia victory over Wake Forest in double overtime last night was reality TV at its best. Six players (three from each team) had left the island (fouled out). The drama included made free throws and missed free throws and some stunning game tying threes at the end of regulation and the first OT.

And an incredible block by the Demon Deacons’ Eric Williams to save the tie at the end of the first OT.

West Virginia’s Mike Gansey’s scored 19 of his 29 points in the extra periods.

The underdog Mountaineers won. Billy Packer’s alma mater lost.