Random Day One NCAAT Observations (and Looking Ahead)

First, of all – let me state the obvious, in a poorly done Comic Book Guy voice: Best. First Day. Ever! (We aren’t the only people that hold this opinion.)

Those of you who’ve been reading my drivel for any length of time know that I absolutely loathe blaming losses on officiating. It’s typically the last refuge of the delusional homer. But there are times that even I must make an exception, such as the timing error that gave Duke an undeserved home win over Clemson a few years back (sorry, know I blogged about it but can’t find the link). And yesterday, the zebras blatantly saved Villanova from a humiliating loss to some guy named Bob Morris. The Wildcats couldn’t score from the field, so the refs decided to blow the whistle on virtually every shot attempt during the last 4 minutes. Even when Bob’s defenders stood motionless, arms in the air…blocking foul. In a tie game, Bob’s coach ditched his jacket and ran halfway down the tunnel he was so pissed. And the zebras must have known he was right, since they didn’t T him up. Shameful.

Every year, I submit two brackets in my office pool. The second is very upset-heavy. In my “craziness” bracket, I put BYU in the Final Four. Despite needing 2OT to dispatch the pesky Florida Gators yesterday, I feel very good about my Stormin’ Mormon dark horse pick. That Jimmer Fredette guy is even better than advertised (probably the best player I’ve seen all year). They also got great play from a second guard, and something one doesn’t imagine when one thinks of BYU – a black guy with a semi-mohawk. Gotta love that. And if BYU gets past a K State team I have no faith in, they play the regionals in freaking Salt Lake City – where the best teams they could possibly face are Syracuse, Pitt, and Butler. Ka-ching.

NC State would no doubt be better with Chris Wright, but his Hoyas imploded last year and lost in embarrassing fashion to a 7-9 MAC team (Ohio Bobcats) last night. And that’s with a handful of NBA players in his supporting cast. A panacea he is not.

Murray State beat Vandy with a great last-second shot, in a match-up between two teams Pack fans remember for very painful NCAAT daggers. Thank God the announcers can stop referencing the fact that the Racers had only won one NCAAT game in their history (against the Shackleford “led” Wolfpack in 1988 – the only NC State NCAAT game that I’ve attended live). It did come up about 15-20 times in the last minute of the Vandy game, though.

Wake Forest beat Texas last night in perhaps the most exciting terrible game I’ve ever seen. Both teams tried to give the game away with impunity, and the Longhorns finally succeeded. It’s been a very odd year, with three of the very best coaches in the game (Barnes, Calhoun, and of course, Roy) turning in perhaps the worst coaching performance of their careers. Wake’s reward is getting pounded like a veal by Kentucky on Saturday. Bring the K-Y tomorrow, Dino.

Speaking of Kentucky, I am watching their tourney run as if they are the “Shadow Pack.” Yes, I know that Cal 99% likely would have left State for UK anyway. But he was my dream coach during the last search, and State recruited Wall and Cousins heavily. So, there’s still enough of a nexus for me to dream. I’m sure we would have at least had one team like this during Cal’s imagined tenure on Tobacco Road, and we would at least have some memories of glory that aren’t old enough to vote.

Don’t forget that Time Warner Cable and WRAL are showing HD feeds of EVERY GAME on channels 1051-1054. They deserve all the free publicity they can get for this very vital community service. That means us locals don’t have to watch Duke-Pine Bluff tonight. Thank God.

Speaking of Duke – is it just me, or is everyone having a hard time hating Duke this year? None of their players have that quintesential Duke smariness/whininess, and they even play actual defense instead of just falling down all game. Coach K is reminding us of how well he is capable of actual coaching (and not just bitching about everything). If they bring home the hardware, I will be able to be happy for my Duke friends. And that makes me more than a bit nauseous.

Put in a larger context, Caulton Tudor has a great column this morning, explaining why the 5 non-Duke ACC teams are doomed. Duke’s the only game in town for the ACC, as has been apparent since late January.

For a little more focus and conversation regarding the performance of individual conferences in the post season then you should click here. Enjoy the games, everyone!

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

09-10 Basketball ACC Teams General

40 Responses to Random Day One NCAAT Observations (and Looking Ahead)

  1. Noah 03/19/2010 at 3:05 PM #

    “College bball in general is going downhill fast. It is starting to remind me of NBA basketball. That ugly bump and grind crap.”

    There are a lot of fixes basketball (both college and pros) need to implement. I’m reminded of Churchill’s quote about how America can always be counted on to do the right thing…after exhausting every other option.

    David Stern and the owners are going to squeeze every last drop from their current tit until the cow is dead and rotting. Then they’ll consider changes.

    40 percent of the NBA teams are underwater.

  2. Texpack 03/19/2010 at 3:18 PM #

    “The last 3 years, Nantz and Packer/Kellogg wound up doing the regional that Duke was/supposed to be in.”

    This will be the second of those three years that the regional will be in Houston, which happens to be where Jim Nantz went to college and where he got his start in TV. It’s sort of his adopted home town. I’m not sure he gets to pick, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a vote.

  3. PackerInRussia 03/19/2010 at 3:20 PM #

    “This is another concern I have with Lowe. If an experienced coach like RB has problems, Lowe (who failed at this massively the last time he had a top recruit) could really struggle.”

    Yep. I agree. I had that in mind when I threw it out there because it certainly seems that those are the types of players being targeted. At least with Cothron, though, it seems that he’s not going out and offering the world to these guys (as much playing time as they want, etc.).

  4. PackerInRussia 03/19/2010 at 3:26 PM #

    Oliver Purnell is sporting the orange jacket. Nice.

  5. BJD95 03/19/2010 at 3:27 PM #

    After watching Cornell play – yeah, I could see them making a deep run. Veteran team with good skill and decent size.

    Clemson and Mizzou is a pretty decent, watchable game. Fitting for mirror image teams, it’s tied at the half.

  6. GoldenChain 03/19/2010 at 4:23 PM #

    I have to disagree with most of you. The college game has actually affected the NBA more than vice versa…..as far as the game.
    Until the last 10 years most NBA games featured little to no defense. In fact some years ago I would say the majority of games were in excess of 100pts by one or both teams while today that same mark is a rariety.
    The reason DEFENSE. The defense came from the college game up not vice versa. In the NBA the clock is still the same, the 3 pt line is still the same, foul rules the same, the difference? The kids have been coached from the college game up to play defense.
    ….my opinion.

    BTW, the Wake game was terrific, An epic in NCAAT terms. Wake jumped out, then Texas stormed back. Then Wake pulled ahead late and seemed to have the game won. Then with 13 tics the LD TO!!!!!!
    Texas converts only 1 of 2 FTs so OT!!!!
    Wake caves with TO’s and misses in OT so Texas jumps out on the back of 2 3’s to an 8 point lead with slightly over a minute to go. Wake pulls themselves off the matt to capitalize on misses by a 90% FT shooter and pulls to within 1. Then with 1 tick the pride of Concord Ish Smith hits the jumper!!!!! Texas with no TOs loses.
    Classic.

    And hopefully the Pride of Concord II (Dee Bost) will take Drew II to school tonight!

  7. Noah 03/19/2010 at 4:37 PM #

    The Wake game was exciting. I thought it was an awful game though. A great game is one where both teams play well and one emerges victorious.

    Last night, both teams played like dog**** and one team survived.

  8. LRM 03/19/2010 at 5:17 PM #

    “This is another concern I have with Lowe. If an experienced coach like RB has problems, Lowe (who failed at this massively the last time he had a top recruit) could really struggle.”

    My biggest concern with Lowe is that many folks have compared his upside to that of Purnell. After another abysmal first round performance for Clemson…oh how exciting that will be.

  9. choppack1 03/19/2010 at 5:36 PM #

    Purnell? I think he may end up like Hewitt or Hamilton, but not Purnell.

    Purnell is a pure system coach. He’s also a “lifer” in the college basketball game.

    I consider Purnell closer to Sendek. Good at teaching his team what to do before the game – but too married to his system to change it significantly when the ball is tossed in the air.

  10. LRM 03/19/2010 at 5:49 PM #

    I meant his potential, not type.

    Hewitt and/or Hamilton ain’t exactly encouraging, either.

  11. john of sparta 03/19/2010 at 6:24 PM #

    +1 for BJD95.
    “greed kills the golden goose.”
    expansion of the NCAA tournament field,
    will have an 18 playing a 17 seed.
    Pack vs. Heels?

  12. 61Packer 03/19/2010 at 6:57 PM #

    College basketball has never been about the little guys or the underdogs. The watershed example was the 1989 NCAA tourney. First, #16 seed Princeton is denied a chance to win the game when fouled not once but twice by #1 seed Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning in the final seconds. The refs swallowed their whistles, and the Hoyas escaped, 50-49. That injustice assured more pain and misery later in the tourney, this time for Wolfpack fans, who most assuredly remember THAT game against the Hoyas. At least the Hoyas didn’t make it to the Final Four, thanks to Duke and a freshman kid named Laettner.

    Point is, there’s too much money at stake for the “stars” to be sent home too early. The CBS and NCAA gods would just about as soon see the Princetons and NC States of the world advance through the tourney as much as Fox Sports would want to see the Red Sox and Yankees lose in the ALDS to Kansas City and Baltimore, if it were possible.

    I’d kinda like to see Kentucky win this tourney because we’ve never had a championship voided after the tourney has ended. The pairings’ one glaring error was not putting Villanova in the bracket opposite UK, so that after UK beat Villanova for the title, Villanova could end up being awarded the title in another Howard Porter situation.

  13. MrPlywood 03/19/2010 at 8:29 PM #

    “I’d kinda like to see Kentucky win this tourney because we’ve never had a championship voided after the tourney has ended.”

    LOL. That would be interesting.

    I was watching Gonzaga pound Fla St… I have liked the Zags since their rise a few years ago. I like their style, like their scheduling, like the whole package. I could live with that kind of program at State. 🙂

    I switched to GT / OK St – I went with GT on a flyer – tight game to this point… GT up by 2.

  14. smile102 03/20/2010 at 2:44 PM #

    “I believe Villanova got the calls, because if they lose, there is no one left in that bracket to challenge Duke. I believe CBS and the NCAA want a Duke-Villanova matchup.”

    How does this work? Is it the NCAA or CBS that runs the Referee Cheating Meeting when they direct the refs on who is to win? Or do they just slip a note under their hotel room door?

    “I believe the Heels got invited into the NIT (and given a 4-seed, no less!) for similar reasons.”

    So, since UNC finished above NCSU in the conf. and 2 head to head meetings and has a higher RPI, State also was invited for some nefarious reason?
    BTW: UNC just vindicated the NCAAs evil ways with their second win.

    Maybe sometimes it’s not poor refing or conspiracies when things are not to our liking. Need I add I loath blaming the refs AND conspirator theorists.

  15. smile102 03/20/2010 at 3:20 PM #

    bradleyb123, a follow up question on how they pull this off: Are all the refs crooked or just a few? Does the NCAA have to assign just the cheating refs to these games? Think we could research the games you think were fixed and identify some of these cheaters?

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