Posts Tagged ‘college basketball’

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March Madness Day 3

March 22, 2009

Uhm… yeah, so my blog is clearly going to be dominated by the basketball tournament while it’s going on… I want to say I’ll have some other updates (i.e. movies) during the week, but my internet browser is acting bizarrely at home… I have an online connection, but I can’t surf the web… so no promises. Anyways, today’s update:

1st round: 23 of 32
2nd round: 7 of 8 (today’s games only)
Sweet 16 deaths: 4
Elite 8 deaths: 1

I got every game right today except Washington vs Purdue, which every one in Washington probably missed as well. I can’t lie, it was a painful game to watch. Purdue absolutely dominated us in the first half. Their defense was stifling. The game was so out of control that I even fell asleep watching it…. TWICE. That’s how bad things were looking for us in the first half. We did manage to make a game of it in the second half and I gotta say it would’ve been great to win a game in which we had never lead on the last shot. Alas, Purdue just outplayed us today. Too bad for Jon Brockman, but I think UW will find their way back to the tournament next year with Q-Pon and IT returning, plus top 10 recruit Adbul Gaddy joining the mix.

I have more to say, but it’s late and I’m tired and I wanna be up for Arizona State-Syracuse in the morning. Peace.

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March Madness – Round One Wrap Up

March 21, 2009

After a solid first day of predictions, I had a miserable second day, missing six more games and losing an Elite 8 team.

First Round: 23 of 32 correct
Sweet 16 Deaths: 3 (Wake Forest, Boston College, Portland State)
Elite 8 Deaths: 1 (Boston College)

Honestly, I had a really hard time filling out the bracket this year. I’ve watched more college basketball this season than I probably have in the rest of my life combined and I’ve been tracking box scores, leaderboards, conference standings, and weekly rankings since day one. In 80% of these games, I could make a strong case for either team winning and it only gets harder as the rounds advance.

My biggest problem area was in the bottom half of the Midwest Region, where I had Boston College advancing to the Elite 8… a team I’ve never even considered a top 25 team all season long, even when they earned that ranking by beating a then #1 UNC earlier this year. So how on earth did they find their way into my top 8 teams? Well, for starters, I didn’t think USC was a tournament team this year. However, they did win the Pac-10 tournament, beating a few teams I think are clearly better than them. Secondly, if BC had beaten USC, they’d be matched up with Michigan State in the 2nd round and MSU has been the most overrated team in all of college basketball this season. I’ve been saying that all season long, so how could I not pick them to lose to BC? In the Sweet 16, I would’ve had a BC-Kansas match-up and I was really close to taking North Dakota State over Kansas in the first round… so could I really take to the Elite 8 after nearly giving them a first round exit? I think what it comes down to… is I don’t think there’s a team in the bottom half of the Midwest Region that is a top 8 team in the nation. MSU is overrated and plays in one of the weaker big 6 conferences and Kansas, while defending champs, are too young and inexperienced; that they even played their way to a 3 seed this year is remarkable to me.

I suppose I get minor kudos for picking two #12 teams correctly (Arizona and Western Kentucky). In most years, those would be considered big upsets… but I’m not surprised by either of them. Arizona has the longest active streak of consecutive tournament appearances, so despite the low ranking this year, they are about as seasoned a program as there is. Not only is the school storied in the tournament, but they got a solid nucleus of talent with Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, and Nic Wise… those guys are good enough to contend with just about anyone when they are firing on all cylinders, and let’s face it, Utah isn’t exactly a powerhouse organization.

Western Kentucky beating Illinois wasn’t a big shocker either. Only a year ago, they went to Sweet 16 as a #12 seed, so it’s not like this is a news flash. Also, Illinois isn’t blowing anyone’s mind with their talent level. Which brings me to….

Biggest Upset Of Round One: Cleveland State over Wake Forest – This should be the biggest bracket buster across the nation. Wake Forest has been inconsistent enough this year for this to seem possible, but they also have the talent of a team that can win a national championship. In my eyes, this loss would be on par with any of the #2 seeds losing in the first round. I’ve seen Wake play a couple of times this year and when they are on, they look like a top 5 team. For all the problems I had in the bottom half of the Midwest bracket, I would’ve taken Wake Forest to the Elite 8 over any of those teams (Kansas, USC, MSU, BC, West Virginia, Dayton). I’m sad to see such a talented team ousted so early. With that said, Cleveland State deserves some credit…. while they have earned the Cinderella moniker for the tournament, they did beat a then undefeated Syracuse team earlier this year… a team that is now in the top 12 nationally. Cleveland State certainly has it in them to advance to the Sweet 16 as Arizona should be an easier fight than Wake Forest.

Game To Watch: Washington vs Purdue – I think even outside of Washington this has to be seen as the most interesting match-up tomorrow. I hate Big Ten basketball this year and I’d love to see the Huskies pound the Boilermakers, but it’s hard to call. Personally, I think UW is easily the better team.

Runner-Up: Maryland vs Memphis – While I didn’t predict this upset, I do think the Terps can give Memphis a run for its money tomorrow, especially with how tough a time the Tigers had with CSU Northridge on Thursday. Memphis is one of the harder teams to judge this year. It wouldn’t be outlandish to say they have mediocre results against good teams this year; they lost games to Georgetown, Syracuse, and Xavier. They only have one win over a solid team and that was a decisive win against Gonzaga. Watch out now….

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March Madness: Day 1 & 2

March 20, 2009

Ah yes, folks, it’s my favorite time of the year: the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Championship, a.k.a. March Madness. With 75% of the first round complete, my bracket still looks in good shape. I’ve missed a total of 5 games, which probably has me around the national average, but I still have all my Sweet 16 teams alive.

My misses so far:

West Virginia vs Dayton: I penciled in Dayton in my first draft and thought they were certainly capable of the upset. However, at the end of the day I had to admit that West Virginia is the better and more seasoned team and I went with them. I can’t say I’m shocked by this upset at all though.

BYU vs Texas A&M: This was a pretty even match. I went with BYU because Lee Cummard is a beast and they seemed like the stronger team. Missing an 8 seed vs. 9 seed game is a pretty minor mistake anyways.

Tennessee vs Oklahoma St.: Another really even 8 vs 9 match. Oklahoma St. has decent depth and a star in James Anderson, but Tennessee is certainly the more touted team. This was the last game I filled out in the first round, so I could’ve gone either way on it.

VCU vs UCLA: Every analyst in the nation was predicting this upset and I think for good reason. I wasn’t jumping on any bandwagons making this pick because there are solid reasons for taking VCU in this game. First off, Eric Maynor is a beast… better than anyone on UCLA, Darren Collison included. Secondly, VCU won a tournament game just a few years ago. Thirdly, UCLA is just not that good this year. They have a decent squad, yes, but I’ll be surprised if they don’t lose by 10+ to Villanova tomorrow.

Clemson vs Michigan: I’m not sure why I went Clemson on this one. I made a list of my favorite out-of-state teams for the 2008-2009 college basketball season and Michigan was on that list simply because I think very highly of Manny Harris. I prefer Michigan over Clemson and since neither team is all that dominating, I’m surprised I didn’t go w/ the team I like more. I guess I figured Trevor Booker’s presence in the middle would be the difference in this game. I guessed wrong.

It sucks being at work while all these games are on, but I did get to see Washington vs Mississippi State and Gonzaga vs Akron yesterday. Thankfully, today is the only day I’m missing the action because I took tomorrow off and I always have Sundays off. I’ll be in Seattle rooting for the Huskies.

I should have another update tonight after the rest of today’s games.

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College Basketball – Pac-10 First Team

February 23, 2009

This year I’ve been following college basketball quite rabidly and I can’t help but try to put together my own rankings sometimes. Here are my picks for Pac-10 First Team as of today:

James Harden, G, ASU (21.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.7 spg)
Jordan Hill, F, ARIZ (18.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 2.0 bpg)
Jerome Randle, G, CAL (17.8 ppg, 4.9 apg, 45% 3PT)
Chase Budinger, G, ARIZ (17.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.5 spg, 41% 3PT)
Darren Collison, G, UCLA (15.0 ppg, 5.0 apg, 1.7 spg, 41.5% 3PT)

It’s kind of tough to call. Harden’s the best all-around player in the Pac-10 easily and Hill is 2nd in points, rebounds, and blocks, so I think they are both cinches. I was a Collison hater not that long ago, but I think he’s played his way back to the top PG in the conference, ranking 1st in assists and 2nd in steals while averaging 15 PPG. Budinger is just solid across the board, putting up good numbers in every category except blocks. He’s like a white version of Harden with less talent. I can’t really see a good argument against his placement here, especially since Arizona has been nearly unbeatable since his face got stepped on. Randle is my bubble boy; he’s a scoring beast that also ranks 2nd in the conference in assists while shooting lights out from three. I feel like I’m snubbing USC’s Taj Gibson though, especially since my First Team is guard-heavy and lacks a true center. Gibson leads the conference in blocks by a large margin and averages almost a double-double on top of that. I could see an argument for him over Randle. It’s also tough to leave UW’s Jon Brockman off when he averages a double-double and leads the league in rebounds… but I think he’s a Second Team guy right now. I had Isaiah Thomas on my last First Team, but aside from his scoring, he’s not putting up nearly the numbers that Randle and Collison are, so despite my home school bias, I have to drop him. As it stands, there could be three Huskies on the Pac-10 Second Team with Justin Dentmon having a great season also.

Thoughts?

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Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot

February 10, 2009

I came across Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot looking over a list of someone’s top 25 films of 2008. This film caught my eye because it was directed by Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA from The Beastie Boys) and it focused on a group of the best high school players in the nation in 2006 preparing to play in the inaugural “Elite 24” game at famed Rucker Park in Harlem. It wasn’t a hard sell for me… a documentary directed by a Beastie Boy following the story of the most talented senior class of my lifetime? Uhm, “move to top of queue” please.

While there were plenty of talented players to choose from, Yauch decides to center his film around Michael Beasley (#2 in 2007 draft), Kyle Singler (2007 ACC Rookie Of The Year), Brandon Jennings (#1 ranked senior last year, now playing overseas), Donte Green (#28 pick in 2007 draft), Kevin Love (#5 pick in 2007 draft), Tyreke Evans (top 5 recruit this year, now playing PG for Memphis), Jerryd Bayless (#11 pick in 2007 draft) and Lance Stephenson (top 15 senior this year).

Considering that Beasley, Green, Love, and Bayless were college superstars last year, some of these players already had a ridiculous amount of exposure before this film was released, so I was familiar with all of the players already. Regardless, it’s interesting to see these guys still in high school and on the brink of stardom. You can see why Beasley dominated at Kansas State last year; the guy is a Man-Child at 17 and can be seen scoring at will against his superstar peers in the big game. You also get a glimpse at his personality that may not be apparent in other media coverage. Beasley is the court jester, literally; his mouth is jabbering away the entire time he’s playing (“You ugly as shit, Donte”), he always seems to be planning a prank, and the man just seems annoying as hell. I wouldn’t want him as a roommate, that’s for sure.

Kevin Love is also fun to watch in this film. Not only do you get a great high school highlight reel that includes a game-winning shot at the buzzer and a backboard shattering dunk, but we also get to see a still baby-faced Love and can appreciate how much he has matured as a man and as a player from the time this film was shot to now. It’s quite the transformation.

Basically, I was thoroughly entertained by this documentary, both as a fan of film and a fan of college basketball. I wouldn’t even be mad if Yauch could make this an annual series detailing the year’s best high school players… the only problem is, I’d like to see the film before everyone in the world has seen the guy succeed at the college level already. I think this is a good documentary, in general, but a must see for any fan of college basketball and last year’s draft class.

Score: 6.5 out of 10 (Recommended/Must See)

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