Well, my Dukies are out of the NCAA tournament. I don't think anyone should be too surprised by that. Coach K has said all year that this is not a great team, it's just a good team. They relied too much on outside shooting and didn't have anyone who could play small forward either offensively or defensively. They had two great players in Redick and Williams and two future greats in Paulus and McRoberts (if he doesn't go pro this summer, which is a real possibility). But it was never a dominant team despite being ranked #1almost all season. They could easily have lost 4 or 5 more games, which would have probably put them at a more appropriate ranking and given fans a more realistic idea of how good they were. They overachieved all season.
Plus, you gotta give credit to LSU. They played amazing defense. They really pressured the perimeter and if you got past them, it seemed like they had 4 or 5 shot blockers inside at all times. Tyrus Thomas was incredible coming from the weak side to block shots time and again, and Big Baby is a man on the inside. He probably should have been on the first team all-American list ahead of Shelden Williams. If those two come back next year, LSU is going to be very difficult to beat. And if the big men from Florida come back too, the SEC is going to be a hell of a shootout next year.
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Despite his impressive stat line, I will continue to blame Shelden Williams.
How about those last second finishes for Texas and UCLA? FARMAR STOLE THE BALL! FARMAR STOLE THE BALL!
I can't say I'm sad the Dukies lost. They are the NY Yankees of College Basketball.
I am extremely pleased that my Longhorns made it past a very tough West Virginia team. You have to love Pittsnogle.
LSU looks tough, but I think we match up pretty well with them. Having said that we can't slack off the way we did in the second half against WV or we are in trouble.
Go Horns!
My pool is dead. I had Gonzaga in the final four and felt great about that for 39 minutes and 30 seconds last night. The Texas/LSU matchup should be a great one. But who the heck is gonna be able to score on the inside for either team with all those big guys in there who can block shots?
Re: LSU/Texas and who can score inside...I'm guessing no one. Whichever team has good guard play will win it, but both teams have great guards, so, that's why we watch.
As for Duke, I wish I'd Tivo'd Redick walking off the court at the end of the game. That image will make me smile for weeks. (I went to Maryland).
Duke played reasonably well. The weak link was Redick, strangely enough. They were in his pants all night long, he couldn't get a good shot in rhythm to save his life. And then when he took it inside he was rejected faster than a William Dembski paper at a biological journal. If Shelden Williams had had any help at all, Duke would have pulled it out. It was a sad end to an unbelievable career for Redick, who will have to go down as one of the all-time great players in NCAA history.
I also am glad my Longhorns are headed to the next round, but in my case it's a mixed blessing as my entire family are all rabid LSU fans. It's going to be an ugly two days.
I still have a shot in the ScienceBlogs online tournament group if Texas wins out to the final game and I do reasonably well in tonight's games. I'd happily lose it all if it means Texas wins the championship, of course. I promise not to rub it in, Ed, though had it been Texas-Duke I'd have been sending over a BBQ bet your way, you can bank on that.
I realize LSU has a good inside game, but I think Aldrige and Tucker will still be able to score inside. We definately need more production from Buckman though. I would love to see Mike Williams repeat his performance from last night. That was the best he has looked in his career.
I think the Texas guard play will open thing up for us a bit underneath. We have strong scoring threats on the outside (Gibson, Paulino and Abrams can all light it up from outside). Gibson is also pretty good driving the lane for the score or dishing to a big man if the shot isn't there. Having said all that the LSU defense looks very good so I am hoping for a fair number of steals and points in transition.
One major downside to the Texas team is that they have so much talent that they sometimes slack off (see begining of second half against WV) and don't play consistently. Consistant play is typically a Barnes trademark, but it is hard to fault a team with 30 wins (including over both Villinova and Memphis) too much.
AJ Abrams need to play well for UT for them to succeed. He had some true-freshman moments last night that Rick Barnes is going to see in his sleep. The other key (besides the big stuff) is to keep a body on Tucker. UT can't let him crash the boards and freelance like he did against Duke or it's going to get ugly.
Should be an interesting game, the two teams seem very similar to me. With WVU vs. Texas we had outside gunners vs. inside bangers, but LSU is much more similar to the Longhorns.
If I can avoid geting shot by my brother-in-law, it should be fun to watch.
I was asked by a Dukie co-worker what kind of pro career I thought Redick would have, now that his college career is over. I suggested Trajan Langdon as a fair comparison. Any thoughts?
tubi-
I think there are better comparisons. Jeff Hornacek comes to mind. I think it really depends on who drafts him. Word is that Utah is very interested and he'd be a great fit there. Jerry Sloan turned Hornacek into a 20 point a night scorer. His system really fits a guy like that. I think last night showed that a taller and more athletic player will easily shut down JJ one on one, but he's tireless coming off screens and in the NBA teams won't be able to key on him defensively in that way. Best case scenario is that he turns out to be like Rip Hamilton; middle case scenario is a Hornacek type of career; worst case scenario is that he's the second coming of Steve Kerr. The best thing he has going for him is his work ethic. He's in phenomenal condition and he continually adds subtle improvements to his game through sheer hard work. That should bode well for him.
Boston College out. My bracket takes its last gasps and then dies in my arms.
Hm. Wonder how many George Mason fans were suddenly created today....