Da Ali F Show, the Sandman, and Other Observations From Saturday

The slate of games Friday seemed like the hangover most of us suffer on the weekends, nothing compared to the day we had before and just sort of boring.  Saturday was another great day of basketball that brought us some new heroes, and new Cinderellas. 

In one of my brackets, I went with Richmond over Villanova because I felt the Cats had peaked mid-way through the season and I never thought Jay Wright's prized recruiting class really fit in with the old guns of Corey Fisher, Scottie Reynolds, and Reggie Redding. Well, I was wrong about Richmond but right about Nova riding off into the sunset in the second round.  For how good Reynolds played last season in the tournament, he looked like the fifth man off the bench for both games.  Despite having 15 against Bob Morris, almost all of that was earned at the line.

The St. Mary Gaels proved that there was another good WCC team other than Gonzaga led by their big man Omar Samhan.  He dropped 32 in the second round game and looked like a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the tournament.  He impressed me with his multiple post moves, and the energy he brings to the game on the offensive and defensive. I wouldn't doubt them against Baylor next weekend. 

The St. Mary's-Nova game was the beginning of an awesome day of basketball when the Panthers of Northern Iowa pulled off the mammoth upset against Kansas. We were cleaning the tornado that was our house when the first half was happening. My buddy Eric informed me UNI was up early and I shrugged it off because I knew Kansas seemingly played down to their opponents then find a way to turn it on leading them to victory.  The utter opposite happened as the Panthers continued their dominance over the Jayhawks. Ali Farokhmanesh displayed the biggest set of grapefruits as Vince McMahon once said hitting that three from the corner up 1, plenty of time on shot clock, late in the game... I screamed what was he doing and went nuts after he made the shot. I am not doubting the Panthers couldn't go further than Sweet 16, they seem poised, calm, and that belief they can beat anyone.

 A lot like Nova, none of their primetime players showed up when it mattered the most.  Sheron Collins was less than steller, Xavier Henry did nothing from the outside, and Cole Aldrich played okay but none of the great Kansas players tried to be the man.  Can we agree that Bill Self might be a choke come tournament time?  Yes, I understand he won a national championship two years ago, but defeats to Bucknell, Bradley, and UNI speak volumes to me personally. I regret even thinking, pondering that this team could have been as good as 2005 North Carolina... not even close.   

Final observation of Saturday is Kentucky overall play.  I understand they have beat two scrubs in Wake Forest, and East Tennessee State yet who expects Darius Miller to have the best game of the day? I will be honest with you, I never heard of Miller on UK come Saturday night. He dropped 20 in the first half leading them to victory.  The three-headed monster inside of Daniel Orton-Patrick Patterson-DeMarcus Cousins is unlike anything in the tournament. I wish I took the Wildcats further but I believed their youth would get in the way of making a deep run.  It's too early to compare them to the Fab Five of Michigan or even mention them together because the FF never had a guy like Patterson who has a ton of experience. I am starting to believe there isn't a team who can stop the Wildcats.

-Charlie.

Live Blog: Thursday Afternoon Session Part II

I decided this has to be split up into four parts because I write a lot of random shit.  Anyways, what a first round of games. Everything you could ask for. I went 2/3, thanks Notre Dame and I thought Bob Morris was hitting that final shot. 

2:20: Sam Houston State-Baylor we are at, there is a player for the Bearkats that has some sweet Kurt Rambis' goggles.  

2:22: Anthony Johnson for Baylor is a BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAN POOLE

2:23:  I might have to cheer on the Bearkats in honor of those glasses, so great.   Also why do they use a k instead of a c, dont know many cats that start with k. 

2:30: Clemente drills a three to lead off our second game.  Mitchy from the Daily Dose will be taking over for an hour or so.

2:31:  Baylor off to a slow start, anyone think they were reading the clippings about everybody loving their chances. 

2:32: Jacob Pullen is the man. He has a great beard and Frank Martin is an intense man.  I wouldn't want to piss him off.

2:35: Of course, Mitch wouldn't answer his phone.  Looking for volunteers right now. Take that back, he answered... we are good to go.  The blog will never die!!!!

2:38: Pretty poor slate of games,  Vanderbilt down at halftime which I am not surprised by one bit, North Texas-KState close early, same with the BearKats and Baylor.

2:49: Charlie's out for a beezy ass lab or some bull. It's a ya boy Mitch from the Daily Dose. So far I'm 2/3 in the games that have gone final. Gal darn Old Dominion is killin' me.

3:05: Naturally my computer decides to act funny, but we should be alright now. St. Mary's and Richmond are underway and SMC is getting a great effort from big man Omar Samhan thus far. K-State hasn't had a whole lot of trouble from North Texas yet either.

3:09: Vandy can't seem to get it going against Murray State. That could mean a second loss for me. Meanwhile, K-State is on its way to our first blowout of the tourney. I've been waiting. Curly thinks he's cool by "calling" this one. Problem is he probably didn't even know KSU was in the Big Dance.

3:23: Halftime of the KState/N. Texas game. KState by a comfortable margin. Vanderbilt has just taken the lead over Murray State on the wings of a Brad Tinsley 3-pointer.

3:27: Check that. Murray State is back on top after a couple real quick buckets. Shucky darns. Richmond and SMC is going to turn out to be a nice one.

3:34: A.J. Ogilvy misses the second of two free throws. Vandy trails by one with 1:36 to go. Going to be a great finish.

3:41: This is going to be an epic finish in this Vandy/Murray State game. Go Vandy!

3:45: We get our first buzzer-beater of the year. Had I picked Murray State, it would have the other way around. FML. Murray State wins it 66-65 in the most dramatic of fashions.

3:52: I now shift my full and undivided to the Baylor/SHSU game. Baylor has a four point lead with 2 minutes to go. Another tight one in N'awlins.

4:00: Well, for the sake of the residents of 223 Broadway it's a good thing Baylor hung on. Now it's almost time for the annual Oprah break. Don't get me started on that. We're probably going to miss the finish of a great SMC/Richmond game because of it.

4:08: Charlie should be returning momentarily. We saw some great action in the past hour together. May there be many more great moments. I hope SMC is able to hold on here against Richmond that would help me out. God bless.

4:39: Well I am screwed.  Two of my sweet 16 team looks like they are out of there.  Vandy's end ran out on a buzzer-beater and Richmond is getting beat.

4:47: I would like to echo Mitchell on the fact I do not get to watch UTEP-Butler because we have to watch the news, kinda pulling for Butler now knowing that people had the 12/13 combination.  By the way, the road for Syracuse got even easier. 

4:48: The only reason why its a good thing, I can get a case of beer, handle of cheap vodka, and some grub for tonight/tomorrow. 

4:49: Pumped for Marquette tonight, this thing will be updated a lot and also watch out for Ohio tonight. I dont know just have a feeling.