Friday night's action can best be described by two words: thrilling and dull. The first two games of the night were one-sided affairs, with North Carolina and Kansas both showing what royal powerhouses they remain. UNC showed off its size, depth, fundamentals, and sound coaching in putting away over-rated Big East conference Marquette, 81-63.
In the other yawner, Kansas (my pick to go all the way) humbled cinderella Richmond, 77-57. The Spiders were caught in their own web of cold shooting, sloppy ballhandling, and poor team defense. The Jayhawks were methodical in dissecting the Spiders, as they put teamwork before self, including Coach Bill Self. They play Self-ish, not selfish, basketball.
The two thrillers came later in the evening, with legitimate nail-biters in Kentucky-Ohio State and Virginia Commonwealth-Florida State. Brandon Knight led the Wildcats with a final jump shot to settle the battle with the Buckeyes, 62-60.
While it was hard to pull for a coach (John Calipari) who has run into strong NCAA sanctions at two previous coaching stops (UMass and Memphis), it was easy to push against the Buckeyes and their crybaby superstar-in-the-making, Jared Sullinger. It was also easy to root against the Big Ten and all things The Ohio State stand for. The Big Ten had seven teams in the tournament, way too many. Of course, the chair of the selection committee is from Ohio State, athletic director Gene Smith.
The other late game saw Virginia Commonwealth upset another surprise team, but one with greater talent and lesser coaching, Florida State, 72-71 in overtime. VCU exhibited tremendous shooting and quickness in its fourth consecutive underdog cinderella victory of the tournament. While the Seminoles were guilty of clock mismanagement down the stretch, Rams coach Shaka Smart kept his team focused and playing smart. VCU may not be part of basketball royalty, but the program has a history of Big Dance runs. However, this is their biggest streak yet.
Is Tupaca-Shaka Smart the coach of the year? Maybe. Remember, the Rams are making this postseason run without star forward Larry Sanders, who left last spring for the NBA. If Smart is not the best coach left, maybe Butler's Brad Stevens is, leading the equally cinderella Bulldogs into the Elite Eight for the second year in a row. Butler also lost a star forward early to the NBA, Gordon Hayward. I don't think Arizona's Sean Miller is as good a game coach as either of the aforementioned individuals, but he's one heck of a recruiter for his age. The Wildcats of Arizona have a young talented team, and a top ten recruiting class for next year.
Today's games should be terrific. Butler will again be undersized, this time against Florida. How will center Andrew Smith rebound from his ankle injury incurred Thursday? Will guards Shawn Vanzant and Shelvin Mack continue to play both ends of the court? Will Matt Howard continue to bear the brunt of the scoring and rebounding load for the Bulldogs? Or will the Gators' triple threat of Alex Tyus, Chandler Parsons, and Kenny Boynton prove too much blue-chip talent for them? Billy Donovan is not exactly chopped liver as a coach, either. Is Florida part of basketball royalty? No, but the team does possess two national titles.
We know Donovan makes $3.5 million per as Florida's coach before incentives. I wonder if Coach Stevens makes 20% as much. If not, he soon will.
The other game pits the Big East's last hope, UConn, against the last hope of the West, Arizona. As you know, this blog is called the wwwesterlies, not the eeeasterlies. You understand where my sympathies and partisanship lie (no pun intended). UConn has two national titles and Arizona one. Neither is a legitimate cinderella regardless of their mediocre seedings, as they belong to power conferences.
Will the Wildcats' Lamont (Mo-mo) Jones, Solomon Hill, and superstar Derrick Williams be able to counter the Huskies' Alex Oriakhi, Jeremy Lamb, and superstar Kemba Walker? It should be fun. Enjoy the tournament!
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