Weekend Fun: Today we spell redemption R-O-Y (Hibbert)

March 30th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

This year, I tried a different strategy. Instead of filling out a bunch of different brackets - usually randomly - I spent all my time researching teams, examining position match ups, and then filling out one master bracket. There were to be no variations from this grand plan; my genius would see me through, and I would surely win every pool I was in.

You can imagine how that ended up. Kansas flamed out (stupid pick), my Elite Eight surprise Louisville caught a tough break with Texas A&M, Pittsburgh didn’t take down UCLA, and my forays into the Sweet 16 (Georgia Tech and Creighton) … well, let’s just file those under “ill-advised.”

This was the worst bracket performance I’ve had i years. I mean, really bad. Middle of the pack in every pool, unremarkable in every way. I actually think my girlfriend outpicked me, which is embarrassing because women don’t know anything about sports. (Kidding!)

That is, but for one pool that I somehow randomly threw together, where I tried to hedge my bets against my original bracket. I forgot about filling this sheet out almost as soon as I finished it so as to devote more time fawning over my original picks. Instead, I ended up with the right Final Four, seven of the Elite Eight, and so on and so forth. And I’m the only person in the top end of the bracket with Georgetown winning it all.

And just like that, I’ve changed my picks. OSU is out, Georgetown is in. Go Hoyas!

In the other game, I’ve still got Florida, though UCLA’s defense will keep the game far closer than last year’s championship. But yeah: totally arbitrary and biased change of picks. Everyone’s cool with that, right?

Be back tomorrow or Sunday for some tourney stuff. Till then, head here for actual, you know, basketball discussion.

Case of the Mondays: Arriving, finally, at four

March 26th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Continuing its direct departure from last year’s tournament, the Final Four this year is everyone’s guess: two No. 1 seeds and the two No. 2’s most people saw as potential Final Four teams. Whodathunkit?

Fortunately, the lack of surprise in the outcomes hasn’t held back the level of play, which (and this is a completely subjective appraisal, I know) has been much better than last year. Last year’s UConn-George Mason heartwarmer aside, this year’s Elite Eight was far better, including yesterday’s Georgetown-UNC game, a battle right up until Ty Lawson decided to stop penetrating and the Tar Heels decided to stop crashing the offensive glass.

Florida took care of business rather easily, but Oregon showed they belonged at that level, which is a victory in and of itself. No moral victories, sure, but considering this Florida team they ran into, they can be happy with that showing. (On that note, our Hoosiers’ loss to UCLA is starting to look all the more relevant. If UCLA takes this thing home, who’ll remember their near loss? I will, that’s who.)

So, it’s Florida, UCLA, Georgetown and OSU. And as much as I’d like to revise my picks and take Georgetown to win the whole thing, I’ll stick with OSU. But if there’s anyone that can negate the influence of Greg Oden, it’s Roy Hibbert. We’ll see.

(Oh, and by the way, let’s not forget Georgetown shouldn’t even be here. In case you still agree with Billy Packer [commenter law, I’m looking at you], here’s the link.)

NBA: Kobe got close to his fifth in a row, but didn’t quite get there, scoring 43 in a 115-113 win over the Warriors. Hyperbole aside, if Kobe can translate this points = wins formula into one or maybe even two playoff series victories this postseason, I will be ready to throw him into the top ten scorers of all time. I’d say that’s fair, huh?

In other NBA news, Denver pulled away from Cleveland late (a thoroughly entertaining game, by the way), and our boy Ben Gordon took it home at the last minute over the Pacers.

Golf: Tiger took home yet another tournament yesterday, but made it interesting at the end. If you didn’t see it, Tiger laid up twice - even hitting the shortest drive of the tournament on 18 by about 30 yards - before hitting a brilliant putt from the same spot that been destroying people all day. It won’t make the all-time Tiger Woods highlight reel, but it was a small bit of genius that showcases just how good the dude is day in, day out.

Weekend NCAA update: On the move like Jeff Green

March 24th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Since it’s the veritable halfway point of this weekend’s action, let’s take a look at some of what we’ve learned:

– Jeff Green really, really traveled. I mean, this isn’t even close, people. Sure, as the only non-No. 1 seed in my completely unimaginative Final Four, I cheered when the shot went in … but that doesn’t change the fact that Jeff Green took an entire extra step visibly and unabashedly, and that Vanderbilt was eliminated because of an obvious blown call.

– Billy Packer does not see the same things we see. He isn’t even watching the same game sometimes. For example, after the 800th replay CBS showed off Green’s travel, Packer decided to make the dubious argument that the refs couldn’t have called the travel then, since it was toward the end of the game and a travel call would have effectively ended Georgetown’s chances. This is, of course, a dumb argument; it doesn’t matter when a travel takes place, if it gains an opponent’s advantage, you call it. Pretty simple stuff.

Anyway, Packer went on for a bit before Nantz hopped in and said (I’m paraphrasing):

Nantz: “Well, Billy, it certainly looked like he picked up his pivot foot slightly there.”

Packer: “I don’t know if he did, Jim. I don’t think it was a travel.”

Nantz: (Quietly incredulous) … “Well … that right foot certainly is moving around.”

Packer: “I don’t think it was a travel, Jim. I’d have to see it again. We might have to talk to (our producer; head of officials; some dude whose name I can’t remember) to see it again.”

To review: not only did Packer argue that if it was a travel, the refs should not have called it, but he didn’t actually believe Green’s hopstep cha-cha heave was a travel, even after cameras repeatedly showed it was, and blatantly so. Packer was somehow wrong, like, six times in the matter of 30 seconds. Unbelievable.

– There seem to be two schools of thought on Ohio State right now. One: their close wins are sure to catch up with them soon, perhaps tonight vs. Memphis. Two: with close wins under their belt, they’re looking more and more like the proverbial “team of destiny.”

I’m with the former. I think Memphis outruns OSU tonight and displaces Oden just enough to keep him on his heels … and Memphis wins and moves on. (Also, Calipari for Kentucky? Derrick Rose to Indiana? Hey, it could happen …)

– The rest of the picks: Kansas, who withstood So. Ill’s absolute best shot, beats UCLA, who haven’t really taken anyone’s best shot yet … Florida, easy, over Oregon … Georgetown takes down UNC in a close, close game. Hopefully Jeff Green watches his feet this time, because the refs obviously won’t do it for him.

Case of the Mondays: Action, but at what expense?

March 19th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Those of us clamoring for more upsets, more close games and more overall excitement in our NCAA Tournament were rewarded this weekend, finally, when everyone decided to go all crazy. My title-winner, OSU, nearly lost (I’m naming my first kid RonLewis), Purdue played Florida tightly, Wisconsin was upset and sent home, and Louisville and Texas A&M played a rousing game defined by ballsy guard play from Acie Law IV and Edgar Sosa.

All in all, a good weekend. Well … sort of.

There were at least two serious negatives here, too, and they were both brought on by LA’s two pristine academic institutions.

First, UCLA was complicit in a criminally disappointing end to our Hoosiers’ season, in which IU’s first half field goals (five) were outnumbered by their fouls (six). Terrible, terrible stuff, made all the worse by IU’s insistence on getting everyone’s hopes up and winning that thing down the stretch. Hard to swallow, to say the least. (And it kept me from another week-long vacation in California. Motherfucker.)

But the greatest loss was, by far, the USC-imposed tournament departure of Kevin Durant, who is likely to go pro now that his Longhorns failed to make it even to the Sweet 16 this year. That means no more of Durant’s sublime domination of the college game, no more Texas-Oklahoma State triple-overtime thrillers, no more 37/15 against the nation’s most athletic defense (Kansas). Instead, we have to watch Durant go through the altogether painful process of NBA draftdom. Instead of celebrating his mastery, we’ll be hearing for the next few months about the small flaws in the kid’s game, how he needs to put on weight, hold his follow through longer, and so on, why Chad Ford thinks he’s a mix of Player A and Player B with a mix of Player C thrown in, but with a higher ceiling.

It’s exciting, sure, but it’s also sort of sad. In that way, Kevin Durant, as we now know him, is gone for good.