One Man Show

6 minutes to go Oklahoma down 61-40. Blake Griffin has 21 of them. I am disgusted. I honestly cannot in the course of this entire game remember a shot that OK has made outside of the paint. This is the worst outside shooting performance I have ever seen. OOHHH, Willie Warren decides to make Oklahoma's first three on the FIFTEENTH ONE THEY TOOK IN THE GAME. The lead has been cut to 14, but it will probably be too little to late. Ok 9-0 run, down to twelve now...lets see how this plays out.

I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth

UCONN celebrating their west regional victory (AP photo Mark J. Terrill)

Shane Clark pervs out watching Dante Cunningham make out with Villanova's East regional trophy (AP photo Stephen Savoia).

Rick Pitino pissed off because his team is not good (AP photo Michael Conroy).

It might be time to go out and buy some powerball tickets, because rarely does any one person have this much basketball fortune. Yesterday UCONN punched their final four ticket with a win over Missouri, then Scottie Reynolds sent Pittsburgh and Dejuan Blair home crying with a game winner, and just now Michigan State rolled over Louisville to knock them out of the tournament. So this is where I stand. of the 4 teams I follow, 3 are still alive (2 of them in the final four) and the only one yet to play their elite eight game (Oklahoma) is about to play in what could be this tournaments best matchup. As for the teams I hate, both of them were just upset on their road to the final four, so I will not have to hear about either of them until next year.

I pity anyone that didn't watch that Villanova game, it was incredible. They are outmatched talentwise in every game they play, with Pittsburgh being no exception, but they are so well coached and make so few mistakes, that they are always in a position to win games. That is why I was surprised when I saw Reggie Redding (I think?) launch an inbounds pass across the court with Nova down 2 and ten seconds left on the clock. Bonehead move that very well could have cost them the game, luckily Cunningham was able to make a play on it and keep it inbounds, but all I could think when he let that pass go was "this is going to be the new Chris Webber infamous timeout call." Fortunately that did not happen, and Scottie Reynolds charged down the floor after Pitt tied it up, showed off the onions and sent Pitt packing. I am really interested to see how Villanova fairs in their final four matchup, I don't know how they handle either Hansbrough or Griffin, but I will not put anything past this team.

Speaking of Hansbrough and Griffin, experts on all sorts of different media outlets are trying to sound smart and downplay the importance of that matchup in this game, but they are missing the point: That matchup IS this game. If Oklahoma doesn't win that matchup, and win it big, they have no hope of winning the game. If it comes down to the teams' other pieces then North Carolina wins this game--they are just too deep and too talented.

Ok, the game is starting. Bold Prediction...Blake goes for 30 and 12, Oklahoma wins a nailbiter.

Disregard that post about Arizona winning

they are getting smoked at half time, and it shows no signs of stopping. They had a good run.

R.I.P.

Not hopping on board

Everyone and their brother is hopping on the Syracuse bandwagon, and I can't blame them. Johnny Flynn has been phenomenal all year and has taken his game to another level in the last few weeks. Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson are skilled bigmen that can give opposing teams fits, and Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins can shoot anyone out of their defense. But come on. Where was all the support before the conference tournaments started and they were floundering in the big east? Just because they have been hot, doesn't make them unstoppable. I am really surprised at how many people have the orange beating Oklahoma: Every ESPN expert jumped on board, as well as every bracket ranked in the top ten of ESPN.com (of which there are some 10 million).
I just don't see how you overlook Blake Griffin, or how you paint Oklahoma as a one man show. Sure it is important that Oklahoma get something going other than Griffin, but isnt that true of every team in the tournament? what would North Carolina be with ONLY Tyler Hansbrough, what would Villanova be with ONLY Scottie Reynolds, what would Pittsburgh be with ONLY Dejuan Blair, and for that matter, what would Syracuse be with ONLY Johnny Flynn. A team is the sum of its parts, and in this case I think Oklahoma comes out on top. They have shooters that can spread a defense, slashers, guys that can play the high post, and most importantly a guy in Blake Griffin that can force Syracuse's zone to collapse so that he can either kick it out for an open shot, or draw a foul. And the second Syracuse gets into foul trouble, their title hopes go out the window. They have the shallowest bench in the country, you just might not know it because their top 7 guys are so good and can play so many minutes. I think Oklahoma will pound the ball inside and make the Orange give up some early fouls to take charge of the game before Syracuse can even think about controlling the tempo. Oklahoma wins this matchup barring an unforeseen injury or series of ludicrous calls that takes Blake Griffin out of the game.

Chalkfest 09

DISCLAIMER: My sorry attempt to make an image on paint has yeilded this. It is not much, but it is the best I can do with my limited talents and I am going to love it as if it were a perfectly normal picture.

With that out of the way, I would like to recognize what a great job the selection committee did this year in organizing the tournament field: All of the 1, 2, and 3 seeds; as well as 3 of the four 4 seeds advanced to the sweet sixteen. The Pat Forde's of the world can lament all they want about the lack of cinderella teams in the sweet sixteen, but I have no problem watching the most talented teams in the country play. We don't need to have some pretender come along playing in way over their heads, that all the marginal basketball fans watching the tourney can pin their dreams on. Realistically, none of those mid major teams (Gonzaga and Memphis being the exception) are ever going to win a championship. So I say we should enjoy the great upsets (Siena, Portland State) that did happen in the first round and look forward to a great weekend of basketball ahead. My predictions hold true for my teams as far as Villanova, UCONN, and Oklahoma are concerned. I think Oklahoma is going to have a real tough time with red hot Syracuse, but Blake Griffin, has shown this tournament that he won't be rattled (video).

As far as Arizona goes though, I am going to make some revisions. I said before that they would run into a "brick wall" in Louisville, But thus far in the tournament the cardinals have looked more like a stick wall--three little pigs reference, that just happened. Arizona meanwhile has been playing at the top of their game, getting great contributions from all three of their stars. If they remain hot and Louisville can't find a way to get some outside shots to fall, we will have a 12 seed in the elite eight. I'll even go out on a limb and say that it is going to happen. Nick Wise will continue to shoot the ball well, Jordan Hill will abuse Samardo Samuels on the block, and Chase Budinger will do a little bit of everything like he has all year. Louisville got annointed as a juggernaut because they breezed through the end of their schedule, but that was when a lot of teams were tired and dealing with injuries. Now that everyone is back at full strength, they are vulnerable.

That is all for now. Rest up and restock the fridge for another great weekend ahead.

Pretty uneventful

The thursday/saturday games seem to be a drama-free-zone. Very few upsets on the first day, and that held true yesterday too. The only upset was 5 purdue over 4 Washington in a close game. Purdue will face UCONN in the next round, and that should be a cakewalk for the huskies. Washington scared me because they had size to bother thabeet and get him in foul trouble, but Purdue is smaller and more athletic, which plays right into UCONN's style.

The bracket I am following is actually tied for first place in my pool (only 8 people) with 32 out of 40 games picked correctly. I'll post the actual results after the tourney is over, for right now though I will just pick today's games as they have worked out, regardless of my bracket...

Arizona State/Syracuse--Syracuse

Wisconson/Xavier--Wisconson

Dayton/Kansas--Kansas

Cleveland St./Arizona--Arizona

Ok. State/Pitt--Pitt

Marquette/Missourri--Marquette (I had missourri winning this matchup in every bracket I filled out, but with the news(video) that Dominic James will play in this game, I am changing my mind)

USC/Mich. St.--USC

Siena/Louisville--Louisville (but if Siena wins I will love it)

Picking a lot of upsets today, bring on the drama

ONIONS!!!!!!

(AP photo/Skip Peterson)
Last night the magic of the tournament was out in full force. There were upsets, game winners, giants killed, and brackets busted. My bracket in particular took a pretty strong kick to the jewels yesterday as I lost 2 sweet sixteen teams (FSU and Wake Forest) and an elite eight team (West Virginia). Yep, I had the Proverbial daisycutter dropped on the midwest region, but I couldn't care less. That was some of the most entertaining basketball I have seen all year, and all of MY teams advanced to the second round. The nightcap games were just unbelievable, I was jumping around on a sprained ankle and yelling the names of players I had never heard of before like they were my closest friends. I actually almost missed all of this ridulous action because I was in my room watching the episode of "Lost" I missed on my computer while Clarky and Sturg were playing NHL again. That usually results in a lot of yelling, so I figured they were still playing. False. They were watching Clevaland State, Wisconsin, and Siena getting sized for the cinderella slipper. They all tried it on, but I think the best fit is Siena.

The yelling caused by their game was the one that finally lured me out of my room to make sure that there was not a fullscale fistfight taking place over Sturg's silly NHL 09 moves. By the time I got out there Siena's Kenny Hasbruck had just hit a shot to send their game against Ohio State into overtime and the crowd in the living room was small but vociferous--relentlessly touting their newfound hero they referred to simply as KENNYYY. I was not there for the events that made Kenny a hero, so I didn't form the same bicurious bond that my two fellow spectators did. I am glad for this, as Kenny was nowhere to be found in the extra session(s). That left me free to explore other Siena players to share this, likely unwelcome bond with, and I soon found my target--Ronald Moore. With the seconds winding down in overtime and Siena down by three, Moore dribbled the ball down the court with confidence pulled up a couple feet behind the line and drained a three to send it into double OT. The small but vociferous crowd went wild, with Clark and Sturg pondering an affair with the new hero, and me happy that I had not just jumped on the first drunk, good looking girl to cross my path (so to speak). Yes, I found myself a keeper. And with the game on the line once again in the second overtime sesion, Ronald Moore made me proud, drilling ANOTHER 3 with his team down by 1 to earn Siena the upset. The crowning moment here was the call by Bill Raferty and Verne Lundquist (follow the link and wait till the last highlight, after a girly scream, one of them yells ONIONS...classic). So there they are, meet your 2009 tournament Cinderella. In all likelihood they will get knocked out in the second round and it was only an 8 v 9 upset, but I don't care, it will be one of the tournament's best games.

Elsewhere in the basketball world, Arizona made me proud last night, beating Utah convincingly and setting themselves up for a run to the sweet sixteen with a victory over 13 seed Cleveland State. I know absolutely nothing about Cleveland State and don't care to research it, but I can't imagine they have enough defenders to match the athleticism of Arizona's big three. Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger should be able to walk all over them as long as they are able to shoot the ball somewhat effectively. I feel pretty good about their chances to make it there, and maybe if they can get some momentum they can even give Louisville a run for their money and I could ream of seeing Arizona, UCONN, Oklahoma, and Villanova in the final four...just let me dream.

I am watching Villanova play UCLA right now, and they are also making me proud. Just tooling on the Bruins. My confidence is restored in them after their shaky performance against American U. I forget that they have a tendency to play down to their competition, but that won't be a problem anymore, because after this game they will probably have to go through the 2 and 1 seeds to get to the final four. Keep it rollin.

My picks for today's games are all chalk. I have the favorite winning every matchup.

More Tourney coverage tomorrow, get on the Sienna bandwagon.