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28 March 2010
Well the 2010 Final Four is set, and I think I speak for everyone when I say "Ugh".
Nothing against Butler- it's actually a pretty neat story to see a team from a small school that wins with hard-nosed, tough defense and opportunistic offense. And good for Michigan State, because getting back to the Final Four without your best player is quite an accomplishment. Heck, even West Virginia isn't that bad of a team to watch, given their defensive intensity and the theatrics of Da"Sean Butler. And Duke...well I'll just stop there.
But let's be honest. Are these really the teams we want to see here? I'm not a diehard fan of either team, but I have to admit the thought of a Syracuse/Kansas clash had me excited. And I was pretty pumped to see how UK's fabulous freshmen would matchup with the experience of Villanova's Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher. Then, I was pumped for what was sure to be a terrific title game between the Jayhawks and the Wildcats. I was even planning on surprising the Stadium Drives crew by heading to Lexington that night to watch the game and join in the celebration afterwards. Hey- I've got plenty of vacation days left this year - might as well use one to sleep off a national championship hangover right?
Instead, we're left with a Final Four that, let's face it, lacks a ton of luster. Michigan State and Duke both have rich traditions, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of Durham or East Lansing who thought they would be title contenders this year. West Virginia is a very good team, but I don't know that anyone thought a team led by Bob Huggins that had trouble scoring would be two wins away from a national championship. And Butler? Well if you tell me that you picked them to come out of the West Region...you're obviously lying.
But regardless of brackets, expert analysts and preseason predictions, the field is set. We'll get to some predictions in a moment (and I know you're anxiously awaiting my predictions, seeing as how I did such a stellar job on my brackets to this point). But first let's recap how we arrived to this point.
- The Big East forgot to show up. Georgetown, Notre Dame, Louisville and Marquette lost in the first round. Villanova and Pitt were gone in the second round. Then Syracuse allowed Scoop Jardine to shoot at will, leading to their demise against Butler in the Sweet 16. Only West Virginia was able to salvage any credibility for the conference, knocking off the most talented team in the country in impressive fashion. Hey, at least they have football to look forward to right? Wait...maybe not.
- Ali and Omar. As in Ali Farokhmanesh and Omar Samhan. Samhan, despite having the mobility and foot-speed of the Lincoln Memorial, managed to lead St. Mary's into the Sweet 16, effectively destroying any chance I had of winning money this year. His mother also made headlines for her bold purchase of an airline ticket to the site of the regional games, putting pressure on her son's team to, you know, get there as well. Farokhmanseh, whose name is underlined in spell-checker no matter how many variations you try, hit one of the most memorable shots of the tournament in Northern Iowa's upset of Kansas. It wasn't a buzzer beater, in fact coming with his team in the lead and at a time when he probably should have just tried to run time off the clock, but it didn't matter. His aggressiveness was a symbol of the entire game against KU. These guys both became rock stars during the tournament, and they certainly enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame. Unfortunately for many of us, it came at the expense of our brackets.
- Too many Cinderellas to count. Here's a list of teams that won a game in the 2010 NCAA Tournament: Old Dominion, Murray State and Ohio. Next, here's a list of teams that won two or more games in the 2010 NCAA Tournament: Northern Iowa, Cornell, Butler, St. Mary's and Xavier. On the other side, here's a few teams that couldn't even win one game this year: Texas, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Georgetown and Vanderbilt. Even worse, teams like North Carolina, UCLA, Arizona and UConn weren't even invited to the Big Dance. Look, it's all well and good to see an underdog win a game, but come on. I think we took it a little far this year, no?
- Shooting slumps. Look, there are just some nights when the shots don't fall. It just happens. Unfortunately, for a lot of tournament teams, it happened at the wrong time. Kansas guard Sherron Collins wasn't exactly a marksman during the year, but his 11-29 effort from the field, including 2-10 from 3-point land, in two tournament games was just downright ugly. He'll get no sympathy from Scottie Reynolds though, who went just 4-26 from the field in Nova's two games. They weren't alone either. Gonzaga's Matt Bouldin was 3-13 in their loss to Syracuse. Oklahoma State's James Anderson was 3-12 in their loss to Georgia Tech. Kansas State's Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente combined to go 11-30 in their loss to Butler. And a special nod to UK, who somehow missed 20 straight 3-pointers against West Virginia, finishing 4-32 overall. Yikes.
- Big shots. On the flip side, there were plenty of big shots hit in the first four rounds of the tournament as well. Murray State's Danero Thomas sent Vandy home with a jumper at the buzzer. Korie Lucious pushed Michigan State past Maryland with a three-pointer as time expired. Purdue's Chris Kramer knifed throught the lane in overtime for a key layup to eliminate Texas A&M. Xavier's Jordan Crawford buried a 35-footer to force double overtime against Kansas State. Washington's Quincy Pondexter used a twisting layup to break a late-game tie with Marquette. Butler's Gordon Hayward was close to unstoppable down the stretch against Kansas State, scoring eight points in the final six minutes to put the Bulldogs in their first Final Four. The heroes of this March may not be who we expected, but they've made their mark nonetheless.
Onto the predictions. I won't go into excruciating detail, because that's what every sports media outlet will devote the next five days to doing. Plus, in case I am bored later this week, I can always use that as a separate column (Here st Stadium Drives, we get paid by the column. Or at least that's what I was originally led to believe. Still waiting on that first check...). But here's how I see things unfolding from this point.
- Duke/West Virginia. It's safe to say Duke will shoot better against the Mountaineers' defense than Kentucky did. The real question is will West Virginia's new found shooting stroke accompany them to Indianapolis. I'd like to think so, but I'm just not that lucky. Duke wins this one, sending themselves to the title game and making college basketball fans all over Americsa sick.
-Butler/Michigan State. Butler will have the support of the crowd in their hometown, and their defense has been suffocating. Michigan State will again be without star point guard Kalin Lucas, but Lucious and Durrell Summers have stepped up in a big way, and Tom Izzo is one of the best in the country at preparing a game plan. The Spartans win a tight one.
- Duke/Michigan State. This pains me to even think about Duke being in this position. Quite frankly, I just don't think they're that good. They are average athletically and overly reliant on three-point shooting. Plus, they have Brian Zoubek, who has cemented his status as one of the biggest clowns in Duke basketball history this year. State has a backup point guard starting, and a three-man platoon at center that consists of two true freshmen and a 6'6 overweight sophomore. There is no logical reason to think they can win this game. But then again, nothing has been logical about this tournament. State wins, mainly because I simply can't bear the thought of Duke doing so.
