InClement Weather: Sweet Sixteen Thoughts

Opening Round Reactions can be found HERE and HERE.

Oh yeah, in case you didn't know, people HATE Eric Devendorf.
See! See! See! [All three posted next to the Syracuse result for today. COOL RIGHT!?!?]
Guess who loves it? Eric Devendorf.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Midwest Region

Louisville put the load on Terrence Williams and he responded with a stellar performance down the stretch against Siena. Their reward? An NBA-loaded squad from Arizona who is playing with house money. Execution in the opening 5 minutes and closing 5 minutes of each half will dictate who advances to the Elite Eight in this game.

Arizona proved a lot of experts correct. 1) They didn't deserve to be in the tournament field based on their regular season resume. 2) Once they got in, Arizona had a favorable draw and was very likely to make their way to the Sweet Sixteen due to their incredibly talented roster. Funny how things work out, right?

Kansas escaped a slow start against Dayton, mainly due to Dayton's even slower start. Cole Aldrich further impressed NBA scouts with a triple-double (13 pts, 20 rebs, 10 blocks!). The defending champs aren't afraid to grind out tough victories. Enter their next opponent...

Michigan State executed down the stretch, USC couldn't. The lack of urgency from the Trojan players during the final possession had to be unsettling for Tim Floyd (or was it?). The Spartans had 7 players log over 17 minutes and seem as balanced a squad remaining. Question is: do they have the offensive firepower necessary to win games in which they can't slow down the tempo to a crawl?

West Region

UCONN dispatched Texas A&M (as expected) with relative ease on Saturday afternoon. I was out watching I Love You, Man. I bet you wish you had too.

Purdue withstood all Washington could deliver in the 2nd half to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Obvious memo out to the Boilermakers: you'll need two stellar halves to have a chance against UCONN. The real question remains: who can put Thabeet and Adrien on their butts on the Purdue front line? Any takers?

Missouri's ending against Marquette was one of the oddest endings you're likely to see in an NCAA Tournament game, without a buzzer beater being involved. J.T. Tiller made a fantastic Eaton-esque move to the hoop, with the game tied at 79 with 5.5 seconds to go, and drew a foul. After an awkward fall, "pinch-shooter" Kim English - yes, to add drama he is a freshman - nailed two free throws. Any Marquette fan was ballistic. Unfortunately, things only got worse when Lazar Hayward turned the ball over by stepping over the baseline before inbounding the ball. I don't want to hear about Acker's half-court heave/no foul call either, please. The final result was Missouri outlasting a gutsy Marquette squad. I thought if McNeal went for 30 and James played it'd be enough; however, Mike Anderson's incredible reclamation project at Missouri continues to improve.

Memphis dispatched Maryland early on. Tyreke Evans now has a gritty Missouri roster to deal with. Good luck to both sides on that front.

East Region

Pittsburgh trailed Oklahoma State with less than 3 minutes to go and then promptly answered the bell with its big 3 (Young, Blair, & Fields) making plays down the stretch. Can they dodge a third potential bullet against Xavier? Probably not. Will they storm out early and finally establish themselves as a legit #1-seed? Probably. By the way, Jamie Dixon has quickly become a Coach K-esque whiner on the sideline. He is livid after every call and has not lived up to the moniker of a tough coach on a tough team. He's a whiner. Plain and simple. Odd since DeJuan Blair walks a thin line between outworking and outright bullying opponents in the blocks.

Xavier withstood a brutal Wisconsin defensive effort in the first-half and executed down the stretch in the second half. I keep finding myself baffled at how much Xavier lost from last season's roster and has rebounded to make the Sweet Sixteen. They'll need nothing short of a stellar effort to make a second consecutive Elite Eight; however, if they can click on offense early and establish their tempo against Pitt, it's more than possible.

Villanova took out UCLA outside of the school's business building. Ridiculous.

Duke may have defeated Texas. They also may have gotten one too many fortunate calls down the stretch. Not that it should come as a surprise. Sure, I can hate all I want. Problem is: Duke may be Final Four bound if John Scheyer is going to be this heady a player. Uh oh.

South Region

UNC got an incredibly gutsy performance from Ty Lawson to overcome a scrappy LSU team down the stretch. It was nothing short of gutsy, but not heroic. Calm down, beat writers. Marcus Thornton tried his best; yet, the Heels were simply too much thanks in large part due to their talented point guard. They'll need this for four more games from Lawson. If healthy, this team would be a lock to cut down any and all nets. Problem is: he won't be 100%. That makes things slightly more dicey.

Gonzaga offered us as close a buzzer beater as possible. WKU had a legit gripe after not getting the timeout call. I can't imagine being in their shoes. Nevertheless, the tough reality is that Gonzaga still made the shot and still won. I'm pumped for UNC/Gonzaga. Which means the Tar Heels are gonna rout the Bulldogs and win by 30. Why? Because they can be that good.

Syracuse stiffled Arizona State for much of the game, responding to any adversity with calm outside shooting and a suffocating zone. The fourth Sweet Sixteen for Boeheim since '98, the Cuse should already be drawing up plans to hope to "contain" Blake Griffin. Good luck. Meanwhile, I am not pleased with the AP headline of Cuse "edging" ASU. When the Sun Devils cut the game long double-digit lead to 5, two straight 3s put it back to 11. The culprit was the most hated man in the tournament himself, Eric "K-Fed" Devendorf. James Harden is lucky NBA defenses aren't able to use a true zone defense. If so, the past two games might've knocked him out of the top 10. Cuse advanced and I sleep easy for a few more night.

Oklahoma defeated Michigan after the Wolverines excited their fanbase a little too much early on. Griffin took control, had a sensational posterizing-dunk, and the Sooners are quietly shaping back into form. Jeff Capel has a huge task ahead of him. One star player, no matter how incredibly talented, won't be enough without a solid gameplan that attacks the zone and isolates the Cuse big men to produce down the stretch.

Enjoy a few days of rest. If you have a team alive, keep on livin' the dream.
If not, don't resort to watching the NIT. Please.

Syracuse 127, UCONN 117 [6 OT]: Best Game EVER???

Best ever? It's not hyperbole. It's legitimately up for debate. In my short viewing experience - my first memories are of the 1989 title game between Michigan & Seton Hall - it takes the cake.

You've seen the stats. You know I am a Syracuse fan.
Nevertheless, here's 12 things you gotta know about perhaps the best college basketball game e-v-e-r.

All pictures credit to Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.com

1) Johnny Flynn played 67 of the 70 minutes. He also played 35 minutes of the 40 last night. Math majors, that's 102 minutes since 9:30 pm last night until 1:30 am this morning.

2) Syracuse committed only 16 turnovers in 70 minutes. Even UCONN's 27 don't seem unforgiveable considering the circumstances. UCONN had a rebounding edge of 76 to 62. How many teams overcome -14 rebound deficit to win? Not many.


3) Flynn deserves the gameball; however, don't discount AJ Price. He might've gotten all of his last-second misses out of his system tonight. Price went for 33 points and 7 assists. Yet, the late game misses will hurt...until UCONN throttles their first round opponent next week. He and Jeff Adrien both left a lot of shots on the floor tonight in the closing minutes. Kemba Walker deserves a lot of credit, especiall as a freshman, for the effort. He's obviously no Jerome Dyson though. Not many are.

4) 4 straight Big East Tournament losses for UCONN. Surprising or shocking? Although here's a number in their favor, 6 times they've won 15 games or more in regular season-Big East play. The rest of the field? No more than once each.

5) Paul Harris missed more "gimmes" and "puppies" than anyone could imagine. Nevertheless, the "Niagara Falls Boys" (Flynn & Harris) made 29 of 30 free throws.

Quote of the Day:
Radio Caller: Why doesn't Paul Harris shoot more jumpers? He has a sweet-looking shot.
Jim Boeheim: Two people in the world love Paul's jump shot. You and Paul Harris.

6) Speaking of free throws. What was more shocking: Onuaku making 2 consecutive free throws near the end of regulation OR Cuse as a team making 40-51 (78%) overall and 23 of 26 (88%)? If you know anything about the Cuse in the Boeheim-era, you know this ain't exactly normal.

Credit: HuffingtonPost.com

7) Remember that the UCONN kids and their coach had to interview after this loss. Imagine losing in 6 OTs - never actually trailing in the first 5 OTs - and having to talk about it snotty reporters and blog writers. Now is the time Calhoun - who I admitedly despise - can legitimately tell people to shutup, if he so chooses.

8) Look at the box score lines. Just look. These are unofficial.
A) Paul Harris - 29 points, 22 rebounds, (13-14 free throws), and yet it was a few layups and a missed dunk that almost cost the team. Blake Griffin has a lot of these nights in 30-25 mintues. Not in MSG against UCONN though.
B) Johnny Flynn - 33 points, 10 assists, (16-16 free throws), and only 2 personal fouls.
C) Andy Rautins - 20 points, (6-12 3 point field goals), and the backbreaking 3-pointer a mere 13 seconds in the 6th OT. Yes, the 6th OT.
D) Stanley Robinson - 29 points, 14 rebounds, 7 offensive rebounds, (11-19 FGs), and a potential return to form that will greatly enhance this Huskie team.
E) Hasheem Thabeet - 19 points, 15 rebouds, 6 blocks, and a 5th foul that left his team a shred of what is is with him. Blair, Griffin, and Hansbrough won't get 50+ minutes to draw a 5th foul on the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Oh yeah, the guy logged 50+ too.
F) Justin Thomas (walk-on) - 19 minutes all season, grabs his first rebound in the 5th OT.
G) Scottie Harrelson - 5 points and two baskets that normally win games and make Bucky Dent's out of 11th men.

9) I bitched a lot about the refs (who doesn't in the Big East against Calhoun???), but they let the kids play down the stretch. My only legitimate gripe: Jeff Adrien committed 12+ fouls. However, he was also out there to miss two potential game-winning shots. And yes, I admit the Devendorf shot was after the buzzer. I still wanted it to count...

10) Devendorf's shot was after the buzzer. Yeah, I said it again. Maybe by 0.0000001 seconds. Honestly, it was THAT close. Imagine that's the difference between a win in regulation and a historic shot AND a 6 OT game unlike any other. In the end, I honestly don't know which moment I wanted more. Doctors across upstate New York just made a fortune with elevated heart rates (credit to Pay for that gem).

Only Shane Falco has more heart than Johnny Flynn. Maybe.
Credit: MovieForum.com

11) Johnny Flynn taking that body blow trying to screen an unaware Thabeet on Devendorf's eventual miss. That is HEART. Shane Falcon-esque heart. Yeah, I said it.

12) Name a better game. Seriously. Name it. Even without a true buzzer beater for the win. Name a better game. Maybe this one?

InClement Weather: Midnight Musings

Check out Pay's latest bracket projections.
Also check out the schedule for conference tournaments.

A few highlights from the night of college basketball...

Close to a brawl at MSG. No dice though. Shocker. K-Fed was involved.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Dexter Pittman led Texas past Colorado. No surprise. The Buffs have lost 22 games this season. One word. OUCH!

Robert Morris received a lucky bounce down the stretch and defeated Mount St. Mary's 48-46 to secure their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1984 as Northeast Conference Champions. In case you didn't know, "The Mount" took out Robert Morris the past two seasons in the Championship game, on their own homecourt no less. Did any of that interest you?

Portland State and Montana State are tied up at 50 at the under-16 timeout in the Big Sky Championship. I'm not watching. Sorry, folks.

I can't feign an interest in the A10 Tournament yet. Sorry yet again. Ditto for the opening rounds of the SWAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, MEAC (quarterfinals), and the Pac-10 opener (Stanford over Oregon State and Oregon vs. Washington State). Oh yeah, Oregon has 22 losses too. Symmetry is cool.

...as for the rating draw of the night...

The Big East left ESPN360 and hit the "real networks" to broadcast the (real) opening round of the Big East Tournament.

As expected, teams 1-8 survived.

DePaul flirted with Providence, but ran out of gas down the stretch to a better team. Pay was right, this win meant nothing for Providence (who is squarely on the bubble). As Pay's second team out, the Friars may not get their at-large bid with just a valiant effort against #1-seed Louisville. In this writer's opinion, the Friars need the outright W for the outright bid. Don't worry symmetry opponents, DePaul has 24 losses.

Marquette broke a 4-game winning streak, leading by as much as 38-10 at the half. Don't get too excited. They were playing St. John's.

West Virginia took an early lead on Notre Dame and never looked back. In case you didn't know, I l-o-v-e watching Notre Dame lose. Here is a memo to Mike Brey:
1) Wear a tie.
2) Luke Harangody is the WORST defensive player I have ever seen.
3) Kyle McAlarney is a liability as he can't score inside 23-feet (and not efficiently enough outside of it).
4) Seriously dude, wear a tie.

Syracuse fought off a scrappy Seton Hall team, who actually led the Orange 37-36 in the second half. Turning point (outside of Cuse having superrior talent) was a scuffle between Arinze Onuaku and John Garcia (who?). AO taunted with a sissy-clap, earning a technical after Garcia shoved him, and a play later a flagrant foul (which should have led to an immediate ejection) led to Cuse opening up a 20-point lead in the next 8 minutes. Eric Devendorf going white-trash on the crowd was just a perk, I suppose. Jay Bilas then gave a 10-minute lecture. Not so good.

Luke didn't look faxed after getting posterized. Why? It happens a lot.