I spent a half-hour logging in my post re the games, but when I hit the button I was told I was not logged on - though I was.

So I logged on again, spent another half-hour writing it all again, hit the button, and was told I was not logged on - again.

Fark it all, my fingers are starting to bleed. I'll try again tomorrow.
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OK, I'm gonna try this again today, but I'll do these one atta time, in an attempt to avoid the crap I had to deal with yestiddy.

Butler 63 - Kansas State 56 = Lesson #1: Practice, and execute. There are two main ways in which a team can earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament. One, they can have athletes with talent and ability who are able to win games on that basis. Two, they can have a collection of players who are willing to work and learn precise team basketball, and thus can win games by outplaying their opponent, even though that opponent may be bigger, faster, and stronger. You may think that K-State should have learned a lesson about this type of play during their squeeker battle with Xavier just two days prior to this matchup, but apparently one class was insufficient to the task at hand. Thus, the Bulldogs handed them a clinic on how to execute crisp team basketball, and sent these Wildcats back to that other Manhattan. They had a great season, and I give them credit for that. And perennial Horizon contender Butler at last gets to don that slipper, both for them and for their league. Congratulations to the Bulldogs.
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West Virginia 73 - Kentucky 66 = Lesson #2: Play with focus and intensity, from tip to horn. In their second game this season, Kentucky was tied with the powerful and heralded RedHawks of Miami Ohio (14-18 this year) with only six seconds left. They might have lost this one had not superfreshman John Wall driven the full length of the court to hit the game-winner at the buzzer. And HAD they lost that game, they may have learned a lesson they seemed to avoid learning all season long. Too often these highly-talented Wildcats farked around and farked around and farked around, either allowing their opponent to stay in the game or get back into it, depending upon their superior skills to be able to pull it out whenever they really needed to. They managed to do so too, most every time on the court. But the Mountaineers were having none of that, thank you very much. They grabbed ahold of the game early and held onto it late, so by the time the 'Cats finally awoke and tried to jerk their bacon out of the fire it was too little, too late. Their fatback was burned, and WVA ate their lunch. Well done, Mountaineers, and congratulations. As for UK, their team and fans can take consolation in two things: First, they had a very good season, despite this disappointment. Second, their new coach John Calipari set an NCAA record that is likely to stand for a loooooooong time to come. With the denial by the NCAA of Memphis U's appeal of the vacation of their 2007-08 season, coupled with this loss to WVA, Calipari has become the first coach in history to lose two trips to the Final Four, with two different schools, all in the same week.

Forgive my Schadenfreude, but :-) :-) :-)!!!
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Michigan State 70 - Tennessee 69 = Lesson #3: Fundamentals are, by definition, fundamental. I was torn when it came to making a pick on this game, as I felt they were so evenly matched. Yet, although I like both Izzo and the Spartans better than I do Pearl and the Volunteers, I felt UT had just the slightest edge in this, so gave them the reluctant nod. This was the only one of the four games I did not successfully predict, but I WOULD have gone four-for-four had THOSE STINKIN' VOLS HIT A FEW OF THEIR STINKIN' FREETHROWS AT THE END!! (Also, if the refs had called that 3-seconds on the Spartans with about 40 ticks left, when that kid drove the lane, got trapped by 3 Vols, and parked there for a week or so . . . but that's another issue, so forget it.) And don't doubt it - that is where the game was won and lost. Both teams went to the line 21 times each. MSU hit 16 from the stripe. UT hit 14 of theirs. There is the flip-flop of the final margin right there. Congratulations to the Spartans for making it back to the Final Four after such a long absence. :-) And kudos to UT too, for fighting through a difficult season to make it as far as they did.
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Duke 78 - Baylor 71 = Lesson #4: Rest on offense, work on defense. One of the nags I've been flogging all year is my lack of faith in a zone defense to win you a championship. A zone is fine to throw out a few times a game, to give your opponent a different look, but you cannot depend upon it exclusively. It can win you your share of games, it can give you a successful season, but there are too many ways in which a well-coached team can exploit its weaknesses. This matchup highlighted one of those most dramatically . . . the zone is susceptible to yielding up too many offensive rebounds. When you are defending an area instead of a player, it is much harder to box a guy out. This game was tighter than new shoes until late, when Dook got four second-chance buckets in a hurry . . . three 3s, plus that stick-back slam by Thomas. Shoot, the Blue Devils had 17 offensive boards IN THE SECOND HALF ALONE!, and none were more devastating than those four there. That is not to take anything away from what Scott Drew did with this team, pulling them out of the Dave Bliss abyss and into a position nobody would have predicted when the season started. And I suppose he had little choice but to dance with the girl what brung him. Yet in the end, it was Duke who took her home. Congratulations to them, and good luck to those "spectacularly un-athletic" players (as one analyst called Dook) against WVA - I gotta feeling you might need it. :-)
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There's more hoops news for you.

Tim Floyd, former coach of Southern Cal, has been hired to take over at UTEP. He has left his job as an analyst, and hopefully he burned no bridges there. If the NCAA finds he was guilty of any wrong-doing in the whole O.J. Mayo thing at USC, he may need a back-up plan.

And speaking of the Pac-10, former UCLA coach Steve Lavin has been hired to take over at St. John's. Perhaps he can duplicate one of the most remarkable bi-coastal coaching accomplishments of all times - that of Lefty Driesell. When he left Davidson and took over at the Univ. of Maryland in 1970, the old Lefthander said that he would make Maryland "the UCLA of the East." And by God, he did it too! How he managed to drag UCLA down to his level from a continent away, I will never know!

And speaking of St. John's, Al Skinner, who interviewed for the position there last week, was fired by Boston College today. Well, according to the AD there, is was by "mutual agreement", but if it smells like smoke, it's a fire. So how's that for a week . . . going from two jobs to none. And I thought my life sucks.
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Did anybody but me know, and does anybody but me care, that there is basketball on for tonight. Yes, Pacific takes on Missouri State in the CIT (the "S" in front is, I suppose, silent). But also, there are semifinals in that tournament that, at one time, actually DID mean something. In Madison Square Garden tonight the NIT continues, with:

Mississippi vs. Dayton = All you SEC fans should tune into this one, as this is the last of your conference's teams still playing this year. But hey, don't feel too bad about that . . . not only is the Big East and the Big Ten down to a solo also, but the Big 12 and Pac-10 and Mountain West and CUSA and a buncha others are totally done. As for Dayton and the A-10, they not only have Saint Louis still alive in the WTF . . . I mean, CBI, but they also have:

Rhode Island vs. UNC = That makes three still alive for those East Coast boys, plus a second for those other Atlantic Coast boys also. Hey, you might not think much of it, but it's better than what most of you guys got left, right?
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The NCAA has ordered IUPUI to vacate wins due to grave violations - in 14 sports!

Shoot, I didn't even realize they PLAYED 14 different sports there. :-)
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Ouch!!! :-)

Good recaps. ESPN could use you.
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Thread Jack!!!!

NIT Thread 09-10!!!

GO TARHEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, done.

Love,
Jay
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Hey, as Roy Williams said himself, it's best to be playing the last Monday of the year, but playing the last Thursday is better than not playing at all - like 300+ other teams. :-)
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:-):-)
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After he said that, he said, "good arm tackle, Dion Sanders style". :-)
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I wouldn't laugh too hard yet, Bryan, and I can give you 3 good reasons:

Imprimis, your guys ain't won nuttin' yet, and it's not wise to tempt the hoop gods. Of course, you may already be happy, seeing as how:

Secundus, Dook finally made it to another Final Four for the first time since '04 instead of crapping out early, embarrassing not only themselves (which is fine, if that's what they want) but the ACC too (which is not). Meanwhile, my boys were winning 2 more trophies. Also, you'd better make the best of this opportunity, because:

Tertius, next season the Blue Devils will be in much the same boat at this year's Tar Heels, what with most of their team leaving Durham for good . . . the only difference being, they won't be going to the NBA. :-)
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So what are we talking about above, and what's this all about? Well, in MSG last night:

Dayton 68 - Mississippi 63 = The Flyers end the season for the SEC, sending Ole Miss back to the Delta. Dayton has not won an NIT championship since 1968, but it's not for lack of trying. They have certainly found themselves in this "other" tournament often enough. Tomorrow night their seven seniors will get a chance to win their third, when they go up against the underachieving underclassmen of:

UNC 68 - Rhode Island 67 (OT) = Laugh if you will, but at least these kids are finally trying their damndest to win. They scored the last 5 points in regulation to send it into OT, grabbed 27 offensive rebounds, forced 18 turnovers, and beat the team with the highest RPI (#40) of any who did not get at at-large to the NCAAs. Plus, this gives them 20 wins for the season, which is a mark I thought unreachable a month ago. Hey, if you're given lemons, you know what to do.
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Kevin Willard takes over at Seton Hall for the fired Bobby Gonzalez. According to the "release", he has spent the last three seasons reviving the program at Iona . . . though you coulda fooled me.

Hey, regardless how he does with wins and losses, he's bound to be an improvement over Gonzo's insane demeanor on the sidelines. Plus, he might actually spend a little time with his players to boot, instead of just dropping in for practice and games like that jerk Bobby was wont.
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Oklahoma has announced it is conducting an internal investigation regarding reports that one of its players, Tiny Gallon (Tiny Gallon? Is that what they call a litre in Norman?) received money from a Florida financial adviser. The program is still under probation from violations in football and under former basketball coach Kelvin (as opposed to Celsius, I guess) Sampson. The university has declined requests to interview present coach Jeff Capel . . . whom one would think had learned a better way under Coach K. What will this mean? I guess we'll know, Sooner or later.
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Tonight will be the championship game of the famed (and formerly relevant) NIT Tournament, pitting the Dayton Flyers against the UNC Tar Heels. Dayton is appearing in its 22nd NIT, second only to St. John's 27, yet has not won one since 1968. The Heels have been to many many fewer, for the obvious reason that they are normally otherwise occupied, yet has had more recent success, as they won it back in 1971. I did not have to google this, since I have the T-shirt somewhere in my dresser. :-) As has been the case throughout the tournament, the Heels are favored . . . to lose. The senior-laden Flyers should not be daunted by the "CAROLINA" emblazoned across their opponent's chests, yet this just might be the determining factor . . . I've seen it happen before.

I'll let you know for sure tomorrow.
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Houston has hired a new head coach to replace Tom Penders . . . James Dickey.


Why do I hear those "Deliverance" banjos in the background? :-)
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Horrible fire and hire. Houston gets what it deserves.
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