Well, that was fun while it lasted. With Kentucky's loss to Huggy Bear yesterday, RSS is officially 0 for 12 in our Final 4 picks. That's right. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Squadoosh. ZERO. That's the first time that I can remember going 0 for in the Final 4, but we told you from the beginning it was going to be a weird tournament, and it has. Now, let's just all pray for a Duke loss today. Or maybe for a Duke win... let's just recap Saturday's action first!
1) Biggest Winner - Bob Huggins & Brad Stevens
-The biggest winners from yesterday are 2 coaches making their first Final 4 appearances after taking two completely different paths to college bball's showcase event. Huggy Bear is making his first Final 4 appearance in 26 years of coaching including 15 previous NCAA Tourney births. He has had some great players before at Cincy, K State, and now WVU, but this Mountaineer club might be his best all-around team. Although they aren't as flashy, they get it done with his trademark rough and tough style.
In contrast, Brad Stevens was one of the youngest coaches in college bball when he was hired in 2007. He's in his 3rd year of coaching and he looks like he belongs on the 7th grade JV team. His career record in those three years is a remarkable 88-14! Sure, his team plays in the Horizon League, but Butler is now firmly entrenched as one of the top programs in the country. Perhaps even more so than Gonzaga, Butler has shredded the mid-major tag and it has been their boy wonder coach that has taken them back home to the promised land.
2) Biggest Loser - Kentucky
-And my bracket along with the brackets of the millions that had either UK or KU cutting down the nets in Indy. Wow. Kentucky wasn't just bad, they were shockingly bad! John Wall (more on him later) shot poorly, turned the ball over, and made bad decisions. DeMarcus Cousins got himself in foul trouble, and anybody in a white uniform shot 3's like Ben Wallace shoots free throws - oh, and they were terrible at the foul line too. When you go 4/32 from downtown and 16/29 at the foul line, you don't deserve to make the Final 4 - let alone the NIT. Simply atrocious.
3) Best Performance - Joe Mazzula
-The WVU backup point guard who has battled injuries throughout his entire career, including a debilitating shoulder condition, outplayed his opposition who was only the unanimous 1st Team All-American Point Guard. Mazzula hit his first 3 of the season as a part of a remarkable first half where WVU didn't make a single 2 pointer yet shot the lights out from beyond the arc. Mazzula led the Mountaineers excellently and got to the rack several times against UK's defense. It will be interesting to see how Bob Huggins, now in his first Final 4, handles Mazzula and Truck Bryant returning from injury at the PG spot.
4) Best Game - Butler 63 Kansas State 56
-Neither game was a classic, but at least this game was somewhat competitive down the stretch. Give a tired K State team credit for fighting back to take the lead with under 5 minutes left to play, but Butler was too tough and too ruthless in their execution to let a history-making Final 4 appearance fall by the wayside.
5) Biggest Escape - None
-But, there is someone that needs called out...
6) Biggest Choke Job - John Wall
-You know, John Wall gets a lot of hype and praise, but he was the most disappointing player in this tournament. Wall never took over a game as his own. Wall never became the IT guy for the tourney ala Carmelo Anthony or Derrick Rose. Yes, he's super talented and aggressive, and will probably make a great NBA point guard. But in this tournament, and especially yesterday, you didn't get the feeling that John Wall could put Big Blue on his back. You didn't get the feeling that John Wall would just say no to losing. Kentucky could have sang My Old Kentucky Home and waltzed to an easy national title in this field... but Calipari's freshmen had an absolutely terrible shooting day and their star was subpar.
7) Highlight of the Day - Dick Enberg Pregame Fail
-Sadly, I can't find a clip of this, but Dick Enberg's pregame as West Virginia and Kentucky came on air was about the most brutal and awkward 2 minutes of a nationally televised sports broadcast I can remember. From the best of my recollection, here it is...
"Welcome to Syracuse for the East Regional Final between West Virginia and top seed Kentucky. *show Elite 8 bracket* Congratulations to the Butler Bulldogs as they advance to their first Final 4 where they will face the winner of Michigan State and Baylor" come to Dick & a puzzled Jay Bilas
FYI, Michigan State is playing Tennessee, Baylor is playing Duke, but wait it gets better...
"And the winner of this game will play Duke... or... (awkward pause and Jay Bilas looking horrified like he just got a B+ on his most recent English paper)... who does Duke play? Oh, yes, Baylor. (Loooooonger awkward pause, more awkward staring from Bilas) *now in excited voice after awakening from short catnap* AND BUTLER.... *pause, Jay forcing a smirk* will, uhhh go home to uhh play in the Final 4 in Indianapolis *we've now set a record for dramatic pauses in a TV pregame* Well, let's get to this game here...
This was just painful. What made it worse was the halftime schtick proclaiming it Dick Enberg day in Syracuse. I thought he was retiring, darn. Enberg is a sports broadcasting legend, but he got scores, names, and pretty much everything wrong yesterday. He confused DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson about 19 times yesterday. I think it's time to hang it up Dick. But hey, at least he's not as bad as Dick Stockton.
8) One Shining Thought - Is Butler A Cinderella?
-My brother might argue that Cinderella is dead, as he did in this space yesterday. But with Butler now going home for their first Final 4 appearance - we have to ask, is Butler a Cinderella? Well, they will fill the shoes of the media darlings and the underdogs that most fans will root for. But, heck, they have to be favored to make the national title game and defeat either Tennessee or Michigan State.
This isn't a true Cinderella in the form of George Mason - an 11 seed from the Patriot League that downed UNC and UConn on the way to the Final 4. Butler was ranked in the Preseason Top 10 and hasn't been out of the Top 20 all season long. They have NBA prospects in Gordon Hayward and maybe Shelvin Mack. So, they aren't a true Cinderella. In fact, it's kinda insulting to what Butler has done this past decade to call them a Cinderella. But, make no mistake, Butler is indeed a Cinderella. Even though they are better than that, they still represent the little guys everywhere. They're still not from a BCS conference. And they'll wear the slipper come next Saturday.
Saturday PICKS
MIDWEST REGIONAL
Michigan State (5) vs. Tennessee (6)
-You know, I'm going to try something different that might be a little bit more successful than actually trying to break down these games and think and analyze. Green is my favorite color.
Pick: Michigan State
Duke (1) vs. Baylor (3)
-See above.
Pick: Baylor
*Seriously though, my biggest regret from this whole bracket is underselling Baylor and the triumvirate of Udoh, Dunn, and Carter. Even though Baylor was picked 10th in the preseason Big XII standings, this is a talented bunch. How could they be picked 10th out of 12??? I'm still not sold on Duke - they beat Purdue by mere size more than anything. If Baylor ups the tempo they will have a good chance.
Today's early game is a pure toss-up. Tennessee might be playing a little better ball without the injury concerns and they have the rallying aspect of coming together after the dismissal of several players earlier in the season. In all honesty, that helped this Tennessee group grow up and find themselves - losing Tyler Smith might have been the perfect example of addition by subtraction. Then again, never pick against Tom Izzo in the tourney. Ah, who knows... just watch the games. I better go before I start rambling like Dick Enberg...
No comments:
Post a Comment