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March 25, 2008
Hoops hysteria
A few memories from the NCAA men’s tournament, which has had my attention from the very start:
* One reason I pay attention to the NCAAs is that I’m in my office pool. I don’t bet, I don’t do fantasy sports and I’ve never been to Vegas, but I love following the NCAAs and knowing there could be a nice payday in it for me. (I live for the small thrills. Call me sheltered.)
For that reason, I was totally wrapped up in the Western Kentucky-Drake first-round game, following every hoop, not having a clue who either team was, yet cheering for Drake because I had them in my pool. As the final minutes ticked away and as I realized that no household odd jobs would get accomplished that afternoon, I did actually think to myself, “What are you doing? You’re watching Western Kentucky and Drake.” Then Ty Rogers sank the game-winning 3-pointer and every brackethead was talking about the game when I got to work. I missed the pick, but I got to see a great finish. And I was sucked into these NCAAs.
* It was a shame Belmont lost to Duke. It was reported as a tiny school with no basketball history almost upsetting an NCAA giant, but Duke clearly doesn’t have the same talent level as the big boys. And all Belmont had to do to finish off the upset was get in Gerald Henderson’s way rather than let him drive all the way to the hoop for the game-winner. You can’t ignore the fundamentals.
* I hated to see UConn go down in the first round. But I really thought the Huskies lacked discipline, especially after A.J. Price’s injury. San Diego’s biggest player was 6-foot-8, and you tell me UConn can’t work its inside game and score with 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet and 6-7 Jeff Adrien, who faces bigger players in the Big East?
For the second time in three years, UConn was too disfunctional to succeed in the NCAAs. In 2006, Rudy Gay was their most talented offensive player, but he was younger than the core players at the time and their No. 3 or No. 4 scoring option. Something was wrong with that. This time, Price, in addition to being their best player, was the closest thing to a go-to scorer. The team needed another player to step up when the Huskies needed to score, and they couldn’t find one — a big reason they lost four of their final seven games.
Another thing — I know he’s probably out the door, but Thabeet needs another year at UConn to develop an offensive game. I don’t want him to become another Samuel Dalembert, who went to Seton Hall and left school way too early for the NBA. After a few professional years, Dalembert is showing great defensive and rebounding flashes with the 76ers, but he may never become a great offensive player. Thabeet could become a decent scorer, but if he leaves for the NBA now, his skills will develop much more slowly.
Posted by Dave on 9:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 19, 2008
Hooked on ‘Magic’
“Black Magic” on ESPN Sunday and Monday nights was a wonderful documentary on the struggles blacks encoun-tered in collegiate and professional basketball, pre-integration and in the years afterward, and was very much worth seeing. I found it very enlightening and also sad. (If you missed it, I’m sure you’ll get the chance to see it, the way ESPN reruns its productions.)
I thought I knew a lot about basketball until I realized what I was missing regarding historically black colleges. From Earl Monroe to Avery Johnson — names we all know — to players Cleo Hill and Travis “Machine Gun” Grant and coaches Ben Jobe, John McLendon and Clarence Gaines — names we probably don’t know — this documentary was a real gem on the game’s history.
Jobe and McLendon were true revolutionaries who promoted fast-break basketball in the college game, but neither could break through with a major Division I program. The closest Jobe could get was as an assistant with South Carolina and Georgia Tech, which I found sad.
Another striking subplot was the story of Virginia Union coach Dave Robbins, a white man who was snubbed by fellow black coaches within the predominantly black CIAA. Despite building Virginia Union, with players like Charles Oakley and Ben Wallace, into a powerhouse, he was ignored for years in coach of the year bal-loting.
This is much better than anything ESPN has ever done cinematically, in my opinion, and worth your time.
*Last year, I won the NCAA pool here at the Post (not that I like to brag, but I have so few shining moments of this sort, so cut me some slack). Wanna know my secret? Pick the favorites. (Now you'd pay for that kind of advice, wouldn't you?)
Go with tournament-savvy coaches — there are several in the Big East, which is why I'm picking several teams in the league to make some headway this year. The same is true of lower-seeded teams — pick upset clubs that have played quality competition and won against better teams. I like Villanova for that reason, yet it’s hard to pick against a team like Clemson, Villanova’s opponent, that’s hot at the moment.
In the end, though, no matter how wise you are, it can be a crapshoot. So just try to have fun with it rather than losing sleep wondering why in the world you sided with Siena or American U.
Posted by Dave on 6:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 12, 2008
Fear of Friars
You know that UConn will try to go about things like the 15th-ranked team in the nation, which it is. Nonetheless, it still must be hard to avoid having mortal fear of playing Providence again.
Yeah, that Providence, the one that was 6-12 in the Big East. But the Friars have also beaten UConn three straight games, including twice this season in embarrassing fashion. If you were Jim Calhoun, would you rather face Providence, the Big East tournament’s No. 12 seed, or No. 5 West Virginia in Thursday’s quarterfinal? Yeah, I’d opt for the Mountaineers, too.
* Hey, ESPN guys, stop rhyming “winner” with “chicken dinner.” It was cute the first time. The 42nd time, it’s downright annoying.
* For you Sacred Heart fans, this nugget of information may interest you — the Pioneers are 2½-point favorites over Mount St. Mary’s in tonight’s NEC final. One of our staffers went beyond the call of duty to chase this down, but it came in too late for Wednesday’s edition. (For recreational purposes only.)
* Can’t write any more, I’ve gotta get to that scintillating battle for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs between No. 8 Atlanta (26-36) and No. 9s New Jersey (26-38) and Chicago (26-38). All you need to know about the power discrepancy in the East and the West is that the West has 10 teams with winning records, the East has five. It’s enough to make you want to move to Salt Lake City.
Posted by Dave on 12:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 6, 2008
Character counts, Roger
* On Wednesday I attended a “Character Counts” school assembly for my son, who is in kindergarten. The principal gave parents some advice on how to help children take responsibility for their actions.
When dealing with misbehavior, she tells the child that she has already decided upon a punishment, and if the child won’t talk earnestly about what he or she has done wrong, she will call in witnesses and that the punishment will only get worse.
She said she never has to call in witnesses.
Now, if children can learn to be accountable, why can’t Roger Clemens?
* HE’LL BE BACK — Smart money says Brett Favre will be back in the NFL by midseason. There are just too many terrible quarterbacks in the league.
I don’t even know if the Packers would consider releasing him, but somewhere, he would find work. The Carolina Panthers would be among at least a half-dozen teams offering Favre a job — do you remember that Vinny Testaverde, a decent QB in his time, but now a relic, started for them last season?
* BLAH COACH K, BLAH BLAH BLAH — Too early to talk about NCAA basketball, but I like Carolina to win it all if Ty Law-son is healthy. And even though I’m not a huge Tar Heels fan (and I know I should be because I graduated from there — another story), I’d love to see them whip Duke this weekend.
A reason for my strong feelings? ESPN continues its love affair with Duke, to the point that Mike Patrick said last week that Mike Krzyzewski has dominated the ACC like no other coach. Now, my apologies to Mr. Patrick if I misheard, but if he said what I believe he said, there’s a guy named Dean Smith who won a few games during his time at Carolina.
* THEY’VE GRADUATED — UConn days are clearly over for Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton, and for Rudy Gay and Josh Boone. The Grizzlies’ Gay dunked over the Nets’ Boone, drawing smiles from both, on Wednesday, the AP reported. And Allen of the Celtics drew a technical for delivering an elbow to the sternum of the Pistons’ Richard Hamilton on the same night.
Posted by Dave on 9:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
