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.

Villanova-North Carolina Preview

Here is the second half of the Final Four for all of those that cares.

(3) Villanova vs. (1) North Carolina- This is a game that intrigues because I like both teams alot from a fan perspective and I love the fact that Nova is the hot team in the tournament right now with Scottie Reynolds big shot. Add to the fact of the screw job that happened in 2005 tournament which featured two of my favorite overall teams in the last 10 years with the Allen Ray-Randy Foye versus Rashard McCants-Sean May-Raymond Felton team. This should be a good one.

Starting off with the Wildcats, they have great guard play featuring Reynolds whose one of the best leaders in the NCAA. The matchup of him and Ty Lawson will be great although heres the thing whenever Dominic James went up against Reynolds, he neutralized Reynolds by his speed.

The one thing that can win the Wildcats the game is their three point shooting. If they are lights out, look out. Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, and Dwayne Anderson dropped 17 points basically being the key to keep the Wildcats in the game on Saturday.

Another huge question that looms for the Wildcats will Dante Cunningham be able to stop the North Carolina big men? My answer probably not. He is a good player but putting up with the punishment of going up on Deon Thompson, Tyler Hansbrough, and Ed Davis will either put Cunningham in foul trouble or will not handle those three.

On to Carolina, they have Lawson who has been the best player in the NCAA Tournament so far. He has been so dynamic and is the best point guard in the nation right now. As I said above there is no reason why he will not contain Reynolds.

I said this about Michigan State and the Tar Heels have the same sort of bench although it was deeper. Davis is a monster, Larry Drew is another guy who can give you 10 and Tyler Zeller can be very good defensively.

Danny Green is one of the most versatile player and really can do anything for the Heels. In addition, he is another guy who could contain Cunningham as well and frustrate him. He is the glue of the North Carolina team and if he doesnt go, the Tar Heels are in big trouble.

With that said, Cunningham/Reynolds struggle and this dooms the Wildcats. It could be as ugly as Marquette-Kansas but I think they keep it within twenty. UNC 87-72

Elite Eight Wrap Up

Once again, I am sorry for not getting predictions out the last two days because my computer decided to die on me Saturday afternoon but I watched all of the games for the most part so I will dissect them.

UConn 82 Missouri 75- This game was back and forth all game long although the Huskies should their teeth by defeating the Tigers. UConn struggled with the press defense of Missouri who frustrated them the entire game and the Tigers virtually shut down A.J. Price. But this game was a coming-out party for the former McDonald All-American Kemba Walker who dropped 17 and could prove to be very big for the Huskies on Saturday night. Hasheem Thabeet once again had huge blocks but really nothing impressive on the offensive end. Dont get me wrong I like Blake Griffin but people go nuts for a simple dunk by Griffin; I feel they do the same way when Thabeet gets a block.


Villanova 78 Pittsburgh 76- This was an awful decision made by Eric and I last night. Both of us had already ate but the Chinese Buffet named Jade Garden was calling our name. But as the basketball Gods held out for us to see the final shot only to have Brett lock us out before it, I was just livid. From what I heard on the radio, Dwayne Anderson for Nova was the difference maker and Levance Fields was once-again clutch for the Panthers. Good for coach Jay Wright whose had some really good teams in the past and this wasnt his best squad although its the only one on the Final Four.

Michigan State 64 Louisville 52- I am shocked and stunned my good friend Dozer who hates the Big East and loves the Big Ten, I didnt get a text message about how the Big Ten's best beat the Big East's best today handily. Terrence Williams proved why he isnt a top-tier player as the Spartans put a big body on him. The Cardinals havent had a bad game since Notre Dame thirty point beating and today was their next one. Goran Suton 17 points in the first half plus three from behind the arc was demoralizing as anything for the Cardinals. Durrell Summers' three point shooting also had alot to do with the win today.

North Carolina 72 Oklahoma 60- This was the matchup I was excited for all season long and it sucked worse than the second Dumb and Dumber. North Carolina goes wire-to-wire after starting off the game 7-0. Blake Griffin was allowed to have a typical game with 23 points and 16 rebounds but no one else on his team stepped up. Austin Johnson, Tony Crocker, and Willie Warren (minus four minutes) didnt step up the whole game. In addition, once again no one had a guard to keep up with Ty Lawson. I think I said it before the Gonzaga game that the reason North Carolina wins is because their bench is so deep. Danny Green was also the reason they had an eleven point lead going into the half with 14 points in the first half.

I will cover the Final Four probably Thursday with a wrap-up Sunday and an overall season wrap-up Tuesday/Wednesday.

-Charlie.

Picks for Thursday

I decided that a wrap-up really wasnt necessary because I watched one full game (USC-Michigan State) throughout the four day span from being excommunicated from college basketball. I will say this my bracket fell vitcim to the sexy upset (VCU), faith in Illinois (so sorry Big Red), way too much faith in Jon Brockman and Wisconsin/Cleveland State destroying brackets one by one. So I just decided to give you the Thursday Night Picks.

EAST:
(1) Pittsburgh vs. (4) Xavier- This game to me is the least exciting game of the next two days. According to the experts, the Panthers were not very impressive in their first two games. I still like Pitt's chances to get to the Final Four but the Musketeers have to know if they can get DeJuan Blair in foul trouble, they could pull off the upset. Jason Love for Xavier is their only real big man threat but he isnt known to go off for anything special. Also if the Musketeers hit their threes, they could prove to be lethal. When it all boils down to it, Sam Young really cannot be stopped and Xavier doesnt have enough for Blair. PITT 78-71

(2) Duke vs. (3) Villanova- One of my favorite games for the Sweet 16 games because both teams match up so well with each other due to they both have no inside game. The matchup between Kyle Singler and Dante Cunningham. I am convinced whoever wins this battle, will win the game in general. Although Nova is one of those teams that if they cool off, the Wildcats are in big time trouble and that tends to happened to them. I dont see Scottie Reynolds being a factor with the defense of Elliot Williams. Another huge aspect could be which three-point assassin (Corey Fisher, Jon Scheyer) is on target. I will take the Cats to keep the Big East going but it will be very close. NOVA 83-81

WEST
(1) UCONN vs. (5) Purdue- Well there is more to come about UConn in the next article which will probably be tomorrow so they now have a heap of distractions to deal with it. Doz is trying to convinced me that the Boilermarkers can keep up with any team in the nation and I can see it with JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel seems to be fine with his back problems. People are riding the Huskies harder than most secretaries on their CEOs right now because the world got introduced to Stanley Robinson, the screaming extraordinaire. He is a game breaker and if A.J. Price is on fire, it could be a long night for Purdue. I think this will be one of those games where it will be close until the Huskies pull away late. UCONN 84-72

(2) Memphis vs. (3) Missouri- The Tiger battle in Arizona. The Memphis side has looked very good so far by the improved play of Tyreke Evans and the consistency of Antonio Anderson/Shawn Taggert. They are my West Final Four team and I am a bit concerned about this game. The Missouri side has such a strong defense unit which their full court press. In addition, J.T. Tiller has been a man so far in this tournament. I dont think Memphis has seen a defense like this in a long time but in general, this will be up/down game which the scores coming close to the hundreds. Evans hits a shot late for the win. MEMP 97-95

-Charlie.