You often hear that phrase in reference to football, but the first 2 entrants into the 2006 Final Four also happen to be the 2 toughest defensive teams I have seen play in this year’s tournament. Congrats to John Brady of LSU and Ben Howland of UCLA, both of whom have rejuvenated stagnant programs with […]
Sweet Sixteen Update
Well, it’s official – the ACC does no more than the Valley with its 4 bids – 2 Sweet 16 teams and 0 Elite 8 squads, as BC loses a heartbreaker to Villanova. And a great 2 nights of basketball is tarnished by the complete jobbing of the Washington Huskies by the refs, allowing Classless […]
Mike Davis – Handling Coaching Pressure With Class
If there was a similar “situation” to that of Herb Sendek and NC State, it had to be the case of Mike Davis and Indiana. Against a backdrop of student and alumni protest, Mike Davis announced his resignation midway through the Big Ten season. He did so in an effort to take the enormous pressure […]
NC State/Texas Live Blogging
Just a hunch, but could this possibly shape up to be our day? If not, we still must take time to thank the Patriots of George Mason, who made sure the day won’t be a total loss. Imagine that – a Sweet Sixteen matchup of George Mason vs. Wichita State. And they really earned it, […]
Live Blogging – Custer’s Last Stand?
I’ll be flipping between the other 3 games at commercials, and typing out random comments on our game. I have a friend in the JAG Corps in the Bay Area, and he’s seen Cal play several times. He assures me that Powe is the real deal, and that the rest of the squad is “solid.” […]
Random NCAAT Thoughts
First of all, I agree with EPSN Radio’s Erik Kuselias in my hatred for the 64/65 play-in game. I agree that the little guys have earned the right to play in the tournament proper, and get their asses handed to them by the likes of Connecticut, Villanova, and Duke. But I also don’t want to […]
Regression to the Mean
The more I think about the last five years of the Sendek era, the more a pattern seems to develop. No matter how the season starts, you can expect things to ultimately level out at a “B minus” overall. Decent regular season? You get the respectable NCAA run (including heartbreaking loss to a power like […]
Ending With a Most Pathetic Whimper
From BJD: In its regular season finale, with a full week to prepare, NC State played about as poorly as possible, and continued its 3 game losing streak. The Wolfpack could get no closer than 7 in the last 10 minutes, despite ice cold shooting from Justin Gray (which every Wolfpacker not named Atsur or […]
Overdependence on the Three?
Read this thought-provoking post from J.P. Giglio’s solid N&O ACC blog (which I’ve now quoted twice in three days). Excerpt: Could part of that lack of progress be the overwhelming dependence on the 3-pointer? Basically, if State’s hitting from 3, it wins. If it doesn’t, it loses. The premise of the Wolf’s offense, as constructed […]
Recapping the BC Game, Cliffs Notes Version
Courtesy of the N&O’s ACC blog, this simple quote: “We knew exactly what they were going to do after the timeout,” BC’s Sean Marshall said. Lather, rinse, repeat…
