Monday, March 14, 2011
Quote of the day
In the aftermath of being snubbed by the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament Committee, Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg had this to say: "I'm just disappointed. You almost wonder if someone in that room had their own agenda and that agenda doesn't include Virginia Tech. Just plain and simple. I totally wonder it, if someone in that room has an agenda. The explanation was so inconsistent with the result that it was almost mind-boggling."
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Bracketology
Wow, there's plenty of material here as we digest the work of the NCAA Mens Tournament Selection Committee along with the indignation of Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale over teams like VCU and UAB making it while Colorado and Harvard stay home.
Here are some immediate thoughts about all things March Madness:
- Shouldn't "Bracketology" be granted its rightful place in the dictionary?
- The work of the Selection Committee was inconsistent, just like the officiating in last night's Kansas-Texas game. For example, in some cases, the Committee rewarded body of work. In other cases, the Committee placed greater emphasis (e.g., Connecticut) on performance during the post-season tournament.
- Conspiracy theorists will opine--perhaps rightly--that the epicenter of the college athletics universe is in the Big Ten. Conference commissioner Jim Delaney was the puppetmaster last summer during the conference realignment discussions. And, Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith is the guy who chaired the decisions made by the Mens Tournament Selection Committee.
- Seriously, how did VCU and UAB make it into the tournament? Those teams weren't even in the "bubble" discussions of the past week or two.
- Charles Barkley needs to step up his game once the tournament begins. His analysis was beyond weak tonight on CBS' Selection Show.
- Jay Bilas showed why he is the best college basketball analyst tonight given his factual, insightful and indignant undressing of the tournament committee on ESPN's Bracketology show.
- Not surprisingly, the app world is capitalizing on our infatuation with March Madness. The Apple market and Android marketplace both offer apps devoted to filling out brackets and following the tournament.
Stay tuned to this space for further tournament analysis which, hopefully, will provide a bit of a different spin on what you'll get through your usual sports media outlets.
Let the madness begin!
Here are some immediate thoughts about all things March Madness:
- Shouldn't "Bracketology" be granted its rightful place in the dictionary?
- The work of the Selection Committee was inconsistent, just like the officiating in last night's Kansas-Texas game. For example, in some cases, the Committee rewarded body of work. In other cases, the Committee placed greater emphasis (e.g., Connecticut) on performance during the post-season tournament.
- Conspiracy theorists will opine--perhaps rightly--that the epicenter of the college athletics universe is in the Big Ten. Conference commissioner Jim Delaney was the puppetmaster last summer during the conference realignment discussions. And, Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith is the guy who chaired the decisions made by the Mens Tournament Selection Committee.
- Seriously, how did VCU and UAB make it into the tournament? Those teams weren't even in the "bubble" discussions of the past week or two.
- Charles Barkley needs to step up his game once the tournament begins. His analysis was beyond weak tonight on CBS' Selection Show.
- Jay Bilas showed why he is the best college basketball analyst tonight given his factual, insightful and indignant undressing of the tournament committee on ESPN's Bracketology show.
- Not surprisingly, the app world is capitalizing on our infatuation with March Madness. The Apple market and Android marketplace both offer apps devoted to filling out brackets and following the tournament.
Stay tuned to this space for further tournament analysis which, hopefully, will provide a bit of a different spin on what you'll get through your usual sports media outlets.
Let the madness begin!
Wrapping up the Big 12 tournament
- Kudos to the City of Kansas City, the Host Committee, the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and all concerned who helped make this past week a special one in Kansas City. K.C. simply knows how to host the conference's Mens and Womens Basketball Tournaments with historic Municipal Auditorium and Sprint Center sandwiching the fun Power & Light District.
- Kansas-Texas games in the past have featured a mutual respect for one another. Yesterday's game was characterized by pre-game trash talking and some "chippiness" on the court by both teams.
- The officiating gaffe in the Rutgers-St. Johns game in Big East tournament has garnered the most national attention this past week. But, officiating quality, as a whole, seems to be incredibly inconsistent in the college game. As an example, in yesterday's KU-Texas game, the first half had rhythm and flow because of the lack of whistles. In fact, Kansas wasn't even in the bonus in the first half. The officials must have had a committee meeting at halftime and decided to change the way they were calling the game as there were five fouls called in the first minute and 30 seconds of the second half. That's one foul every 18 seconds! The quick whistles changed the flow and for no apparent reason.
- It's hard to quibble with the All-Tournament team of the Morris brothers, Tristan Thompson, Alec Burks and Jordan Hamilton. However, I'm not sure any player was as valuable to his team as Tyrel Reed was to Kansas. Reed forced Colorado's Cory Higgins into 1 of 11 shooting on Friday night and hit a couple of key three-pointers. Yesterday, Reed once again seemed to hit a three when it was most needed and his fast break dunk in the first half was the play which seemed to most energize the crowd, and his team.
- Yesterday's atmosphere was great but did not compare to last year's very equal crowd split between Kansas and Kansas State. The KU-Texas crowd had to be 90% blue and sounded like a game at Allen Fieldhouse, minus the decibel level created by the low ceiling and layout of that building.
- Kansas-Texas games in the past have featured a mutual respect for one another. Yesterday's game was characterized by pre-game trash talking and some "chippiness" on the court by both teams.
- The officiating gaffe in the Rutgers-St. Johns game in Big East tournament has garnered the most national attention this past week. But, officiating quality, as a whole, seems to be incredibly inconsistent in the college game. As an example, in yesterday's KU-Texas game, the first half had rhythm and flow because of the lack of whistles. In fact, Kansas wasn't even in the bonus in the first half. The officials must have had a committee meeting at halftime and decided to change the way they were calling the game as there were five fouls called in the first minute and 30 seconds of the second half. That's one foul every 18 seconds! The quick whistles changed the flow and for no apparent reason.
- It's hard to quibble with the All-Tournament team of the Morris brothers, Tristan Thompson, Alec Burks and Jordan Hamilton. However, I'm not sure any player was as valuable to his team as Tyrel Reed was to Kansas. Reed forced Colorado's Cory Higgins into 1 of 11 shooting on Friday night and hit a couple of key three-pointers. Yesterday, Reed once again seemed to hit a three when it was most needed and his fast break dunk in the first half was the play which seemed to most energize the crowd, and his team.
- Yesterday's atmosphere was great but did not compare to last year's very equal crowd split between Kansas and Kansas State. The KU-Texas crowd had to be 90% blue and sounded like a game at Allen Fieldhouse, minus the decibel level created by the low ceiling and layout of that building.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Kansas-Texas: what to watch
84-74. 88-84. 80-68. Kansas and Texas have played three times in the finals of the Big 12 Tournament and, each time, KU has emerged the victor. And, each time, the game was considered a great game--even a classic--given the circumstances.
In 2006, a group of Kansas freshmen named Rush, Chalmers and Wright paid back Texas for a regular season 25-point loss in Austin. That championship game, played in Dallas, was the coming out party for that talented group of recruits who shared the regular season title with the Longhorns. In 2007, KU came back from a huge first half deficit to beat Texas in Oklahoma City. And, that was a Texas team featuring a kid named Durant. Then, in 2008, KU and Texas played one of the best college games seen in Kansas City, making shot after shot, and christening the first league tournament in Sprint Center with a 12 point Kansas victory. That Jayhawk team won a national championship three weeks later.
So, once again, we get the Jayhawks and Longhorns in the league final. What should you look for today?
- Tyrel Reed. The under-appreciated Reed, playing on a foot which will need post-season surgery, held Colorado's Cory Higgins to 1 of 11 shooting while also draining two three pointers at crucial points in the Kansas victory.
- Gary Johnson. The Texas senior seems to be everywhere on the court--he tips balls away, grabs rebounds, moves his feet well on defense, and makes garbage baskets. He's the kind of guy you hate to play but who you want on your team.
- Revenge. Kansas clearly wanted to play Texas again since the Longhorns beat KU in Allen Fieldhouse earlier in the year. Texas is tired of hearing about Kansas' string of tournament championship wins over their school.
- Thomas Robinson. Robinson has had a bad tournament. He only played nine minutes against Colorado, has been lost too often on defense, and has not supplied the energy off the bench like he did in the regular season. The Jayhawks need a solid game from Robinson tonight.
- J'Covan Brown. Brown has been a Kansas nemesis, most recently going off for 23 off the bench on January 22 in Lawrence.
- Matchups. Brady Morningstar will take on Jordan Hamilton. Dogus Balbay will hound Reed. Tyshawn Taylor/Elijah Johnson (whichever starts) will go against Cory Joseph. And, Tristan Thompson and Johnson will be paired against the Morris twins. Interesting matchups all, complemented by who comes off the bench for each team--Josh Selby and Brown, Robinson and Matt Hill, Mario Little and Alexis Wangmene, and Taylor/Johnson and Jai Lucas.
- Atmosphere. Sprint Center isn't Allen Fieldhouse but the crowd will be blue, blue, blue. The exits of Kansas State and Missouri on Thursday meant a buyer's market for Kansas fans. A key will be that the crowd is loud and into it early as Kansas cannot afford another sluggish start--something which plagued them on Thursday morning and last night.
- Prediction: Based upon what I've seen the past two days, I'd pick Texas. Based upon what I read about game readiness, I'd pick Kansas. Thus, my head says "Texas" but my heart says "Kansas." I'm following my heart--Kansas 82, Texas 77.
In 2006, a group of Kansas freshmen named Rush, Chalmers and Wright paid back Texas for a regular season 25-point loss in Austin. That championship game, played in Dallas, was the coming out party for that talented group of recruits who shared the regular season title with the Longhorns. In 2007, KU came back from a huge first half deficit to beat Texas in Oklahoma City. And, that was a Texas team featuring a kid named Durant. Then, in 2008, KU and Texas played one of the best college games seen in Kansas City, making shot after shot, and christening the first league tournament in Sprint Center with a 12 point Kansas victory. That Jayhawk team won a national championship three weeks later.
So, once again, we get the Jayhawks and Longhorns in the league final. What should you look for today?
- Tyrel Reed. The under-appreciated Reed, playing on a foot which will need post-season surgery, held Colorado's Cory Higgins to 1 of 11 shooting while also draining two three pointers at crucial points in the Kansas victory.
- Gary Johnson. The Texas senior seems to be everywhere on the court--he tips balls away, grabs rebounds, moves his feet well on defense, and makes garbage baskets. He's the kind of guy you hate to play but who you want on your team.
- Revenge. Kansas clearly wanted to play Texas again since the Longhorns beat KU in Allen Fieldhouse earlier in the year. Texas is tired of hearing about Kansas' string of tournament championship wins over their school.
- Thomas Robinson. Robinson has had a bad tournament. He only played nine minutes against Colorado, has been lost too often on defense, and has not supplied the energy off the bench like he did in the regular season. The Jayhawks need a solid game from Robinson tonight.
- J'Covan Brown. Brown has been a Kansas nemesis, most recently going off for 23 off the bench on January 22 in Lawrence.
- Matchups. Brady Morningstar will take on Jordan Hamilton. Dogus Balbay will hound Reed. Tyshawn Taylor/Elijah Johnson (whichever starts) will go against Cory Joseph. And, Tristan Thompson and Johnson will be paired against the Morris twins. Interesting matchups all, complemented by who comes off the bench for each team--Josh Selby and Brown, Robinson and Matt Hill, Mario Little and Alexis Wangmene, and Taylor/Johnson and Jai Lucas.
- Atmosphere. Sprint Center isn't Allen Fieldhouse but the crowd will be blue, blue, blue. The exits of Kansas State and Missouri on Thursday meant a buyer's market for Kansas fans. A key will be that the crowd is loud and into it early as Kansas cannot afford another sluggish start--something which plagued them on Thursday morning and last night.
- Prediction: Based upon what I've seen the past two days, I'd pick Texas. Based upon what I read about game readiness, I'd pick Kansas. Thus, my head says "Texas" but my heart says "Kansas." I'm following my heart--Kansas 82, Texas 77.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Quote of the day
Barry Switzer, former head football coach at the University of Oklahoma, had this to say about Jim Tressel and his suspension, for two games next season, at Ohio State University. Said Switzer, "Jim Tressel's situation, that's jaywalking to me. These things don't surprise me. This stuff has gone on forever."
Dunks and turnovers - Big 12 Tournament edition
- Dunk: Sprint Center, Municipal Auditorium and the Power & Light District. The vision of Kansas City leaders is evident whenever the Big 12 Mens and Womens Tournaments come to town. The complementary venues of Sprint Center and Municipal Auditorium, combined with the P&L entertainment district and College Basketball Experience, make a perfect multi-block area for college basketball fans to congregate and have fun. For those of us who attended one too many tournaments at Kemper Arena, the experience is light years better--both inside and outside of the arena.
- Turnover: Team mascots. I'll give a shout-out to Chip, the Colorado Buffalo, as my mascot-of-the-day but he had little competition. OU's mullet-headed horse was nowhere to be found, Kansas State's Wildcat head-on-human body creeps me out, and the Texas Longhorn is okay but the attraction of that cheer squad is, ahem, the other members.
- Dunk: Kansas State's fans. The Wildcat faithful get my vote for the most vocal, in a good way, yesterday.
- Turnover: I know that the vast majority of Colorado alumni are in Denver and the western U.S. but, seriously, can't this school get more than three or four rows of fans into Sprint Center?
- Dunk: Tad Boyle. It's hard to beat any team three times in one year but even harder when it's a team who was on a roll like Kansas State. Let's give it up to CU head coach Boyle and his guard tandem of Alec Burks and Cory Higgins.
- Turnover: Officiating. I know it's a difficult profession but, honestly, there were tons of perplexing calls yesterday afternoon and evening.
- Players of the day: Mario Little of Kansas, who made a crucial basket and free throw late in KU's victory over Oklahoma State; Burks and Higgins combining for 52 points in CU's win over KSU; Jordan Hamilton's 22 and 10 double-double; and Texas A&M's David Loubeau, who continues his impressive play for Texas A&M.
- What to look for tonight: In Kansas' two victories over Colorado in the regular season, the Jayhawks outrebounded the Buffs 74-44, a +30 margin. If KU continues to exploit its inside advantage, the 'Hawks should win their third over CU this season. Texas beat Texas A&M by a combined 41 points in the previous two games between these rivals this year. Both turned in impressive defensive performances last night but the Longhorns simply have too much offensive firepower for the Aggies. Don't expect a 20-point Texas win but the 'Horns should advance, setting up, yet again, a Kansas-Texas tournament championship game.
- Turnover: Team mascots. I'll give a shout-out to Chip, the Colorado Buffalo, as my mascot-of-the-day but he had little competition. OU's mullet-headed horse was nowhere to be found, Kansas State's Wildcat head-on-human body creeps me out, and the Texas Longhorn is okay but the attraction of that cheer squad is, ahem, the other members.
- Dunk: Kansas State's fans. The Wildcat faithful get my vote for the most vocal, in a good way, yesterday.
- Turnover: I know that the vast majority of Colorado alumni are in Denver and the western U.S. but, seriously, can't this school get more than three or four rows of fans into Sprint Center?
- Dunk: Tad Boyle. It's hard to beat any team three times in one year but even harder when it's a team who was on a roll like Kansas State. Let's give it up to CU head coach Boyle and his guard tandem of Alec Burks and Cory Higgins.
- Turnover: Officiating. I know it's a difficult profession but, honestly, there were tons of perplexing calls yesterday afternoon and evening.
- Players of the day: Mario Little of Kansas, who made a crucial basket and free throw late in KU's victory over Oklahoma State; Burks and Higgins combining for 52 points in CU's win over KSU; Jordan Hamilton's 22 and 10 double-double; and Texas A&M's David Loubeau, who continues his impressive play for Texas A&M.
- What to look for tonight: In Kansas' two victories over Colorado in the regular season, the Jayhawks outrebounded the Buffs 74-44, a +30 margin. If KU continues to exploit its inside advantage, the 'Hawks should win their third over CU this season. Texas beat Texas A&M by a combined 41 points in the previous two games between these rivals this year. Both turned in impressive defensive performances last night but the Longhorns simply have too much offensive firepower for the Aggies. Don't expect a 20-point Texas win but the 'Horns should advance, setting up, yet again, a Kansas-Texas tournament championship game.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Fouls and turnovers
- Fouled out: The officiating crew of the St. Johns-Rutgers game in the Big East tournament. Tim Higgins, Jim Burr and Earl Walton failed to call an obvious foul on St. Johns, late in the game, then compounded the mistake by missing a traveling call which would have given possession back to Rutgers with 1.7 seconds to play. St. Johns won the game, 65-63.
- Fouled out: The NCAA. How in the world can this bureaucratic body rationalize why they suddenly ruled Perry Jones III of Baylor ineligible, only hours before tonight's game with Oklahoma? The supposed violation was a pre-enrollment situation, meaning it was not an institutional mistake. Did it truly take five months for college athletics governing body to figure this out?
- Turnover: Is there no better talent in Big 12 country than Doug Bell and Brendan Manser? The between-game and halftime shows on the Big 12 Network are incredibly weak.
- Foul: Pat Knight forced the issue at Texas Tech and urged the school's administration to announce his firing, even though the Red Raiders had at least one tournament game to play. Knight thus becomes the first major coaching casualty of the post-regular season of 2010-11.
- Turnover: There has never been an official on the NCAA Rules Committee. How can one not have an official--the person actually enforcing the rules--on the committee which sets the rules?
- Turnover: Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were still in the running for an NCAA Tournament berth but lost, by one, to Oklahoma State when they were unable to get off a shot late in the game.
- Foul: Ricardo Patton. Remember Patton? The coach who flirted with but never tasted consistent success at Colorado ended up at Northern Illinois. And, after four years, NIU has fired Patton, who went 35-83 during his tenure there.
- Fouled out: The NCAA. How in the world can this bureaucratic body rationalize why they suddenly ruled Perry Jones III of Baylor ineligible, only hours before tonight's game with Oklahoma? The supposed violation was a pre-enrollment situation, meaning it was not an institutional mistake. Did it truly take five months for college athletics governing body to figure this out?
- Turnover: Is there no better talent in Big 12 country than Doug Bell and Brendan Manser? The between-game and halftime shows on the Big 12 Network are incredibly weak.
- Foul: Pat Knight forced the issue at Texas Tech and urged the school's administration to announce his firing, even though the Red Raiders had at least one tournament game to play. Knight thus becomes the first major coaching casualty of the post-regular season of 2010-11.
- Turnover: There has never been an official on the NCAA Rules Committee. How can one not have an official--the person actually enforcing the rules--on the committee which sets the rules?
- Turnover: Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were still in the running for an NCAA Tournament berth but lost, by one, to Oklahoma State when they were unable to get off a shot late in the game.
- Foul: Ricardo Patton. Remember Patton? The coach who flirted with but never tasted consistent success at Colorado ended up at Northern Illinois. And, after four years, NIU has fired Patton, who went 35-83 during his tenure there.
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