NCAA Tournament: First Round Review, Second Round Preview

Here are some prevailing thoughts from the first round of the NCAA Tournament…

 

Biggest Winner: America 

 

With the ability to watch every single game in its entirety, really, aren’t we all winners? 

 

(Although whoever came up with that cheesy, “Tonight you get to be your producer!” slogan, needs to be fired. Like immediately.)

 

And while we’re here, let’s give CBS and Turner a round of applause for their decision to stagger the start times of these games. Along with HD, ESPN3.com and women's beach volleyball going mainstream, it might be the best thing to happen to sports in the last 10 years. Not only does it allow for more basketball consumption, not only does it mean that we’ve got a game heading into the final minutes from 1:30 in the afternoon on, but most importantly, you know what it also means? I haven’t watched a single halftime show or commercial the entire tournament! Truth be told, I’ve been flipping channels so fast and furiously, that I haven’t seen Greg Gumbel’s ugly mug since Thursday morning, and for all I know, Charles Barkley could be doing a magic routine at halftime of these games. Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve seen Barkley even less than I’ve seen my family this weekend. Which is saying something. 

 

Overall, I give CBS and Turner an A+++++++++++++ for their coverage so far, and I haven’t even mentioned how awesome it was flipping on hoops yesterday and hearing Marv Albert and Steve Kerr courtside calling a college basketball game.

 

To use a line from some movie I can't remember, "This looks like the start of a beautiful friendship."

 

Biggest Loser: Villanova 

 

You know who doesn’t get an A++++++++++++? How about Villanova? Because for all the talk about Jay Wright being a hot, up and coming coach three or four years ago, all of a sudden, I’m really not so sure he knows what he’s doing.

 

Obviously, you can’t blame Wright in specific for Friday’s loss to George Mason. The players had a huge part in it, and need to be held accountable. Still, to lose that game, after the season Villanova had, is inexcusable. Especially when you consider that the Wildcats led by six at halftime, six with under four minutes to go, and by three with the ball under two minutes. And they still lost. How?

 

Which is why in my eyes, most of the blame has to fall on Wright. For whatever reason, he seems to have regressed as a coach, and is all of a sudden worse in pressure situations than the Situation was at the Donald Trump roast the other night. Which- if you’ve seen the footage- is saying something. 

 

Again, Wright isn’t alone. But I thought he butchered the last minute in Friday’s game, when he prematurely used his final timeout, only to set up a play that would best be described as “Passing the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds, before Corey Fisher got bailed out with a foul call.” If you’re going to blow your last timeout with about a minute to go, don’t you need to come up with something a little better than that?

 

Then, after getting the ball back, Villanova got a huge break with a non-call on Maalik Wayns, only to see Corey Stokes attempt a haphazard shot that hit the side of the backboard. It resulted in a Mason rebound, and final their bucket of the game. I hate to beat a dead horse, but with your season on the line, you’ve simply got to be better than that. Isn’t that what you practice all year for? Situations like that?

 

For the second year in a row, I’m sitting here saying that Jay Wright choked in the final minutes of his team’s biggest game of the season. And while the players deserve some fault, ultimately they’re a reflection of the coach. And the coach laid an egg Friday.

 

Best Wins: Marquette/Gonzaga:

 

Yeh, I know that you could make a case for Duke, UConn, Florida and Ohio State being here. Then again those teams were supposed to win, and did. So instead, let’s look at a few teams that weren’t expected to, and surprised everyone.

 

Starting with Marquette, I’ve got to ask, who the hell were those guys last night, and what did they do with the Golden Eagles we all know and love? 

 

Marquette could always play offense, but apparently Buzz Williams read a “Defensive Basketball Drills For Dummies,” book on the flight down to Cleveland. Because that  looked nothing like the 202nd ranked defensive team in the country last evening. All night long, the Golden Eagles were jumping passing lanes, contesting shots, and were so aggressive on Tu Holloway, that someone probably should’ve been charged with assault on him. Xavier came into that game averaging 72 points per game, and hadn’t scored under 50 since the first week in January. They finished with 55 Friday night, and that was only after a late second half run made things respectable.

 

As for Gonzaga, well, I’ve seen them play quite a bit too this season, and they never once looked as good as they did against St. John’s Thursday. The Zags were running the court, making the extra pass and playing maybe the best defense I’ve seen them play under Mark Few. Yes I picked the Zags to win, but there’s no way I saw that effort coming. 

 

Worst Losses: Xavier/Georgetown/Vanderbilt:

 

At first I was ready to pile a load of dog crap on Xavier, because honestly, they were terrible last night. Yes Marquette played well, but that also doesn’t excuse the Musketeers. They played with a disinterested attitude, were careless with the ball, and had a general sense of malaise that really made me wonder if everyone was upset they were missing some killer frat party back on campus. Xavier was literally the only higher seeded team I saw all weekend that I knew would lose within the first five minutes of their game. They were that bad. 

 

Still, to talk solely about the Musketeers, would do a great disservice to the overall suckiness of Georgetown. Much like Xavier, Georgetown played with no passion at all, and watching them, it was tough to gague whether they actually wanted to play basketball Friday, or would’ve just preferred to stay in their hotel rooms and play video games all night.

 

And while I know Chris Wright was far from 100 percent, there are two reasons that Georgetown’s effort was worse than Xavier’s on Friday night. 

 

One, they’re a team of seniors. Hey Austin Freeman, Julian Vaughn and Chris Wright, way to close out your careers! Instead of remembering all those regular season wins you guys had, we’ll always remember you as the team that crapped the bed in your final game, and put up 55 points against a VCU club that probably didn’t deserve to be in the tournament to begin with! Great work!

 

Also, you know the other reason I can’t forgive the Hoyas? Because they got upset in the first round last year! Call me crazy, but I would've thought they'd have learned their lesson after losing to Ohio last March? Apparently not.

 

Finally, I’ve got one word on Vanderbilt: Ugh. 

 

Then again, after three straight years of this crap in the NCAA Tournament, and a season full of giving away games, are we surprised? You know what the real best word to describe this Vanderbilt team is? Gutless. It’s one thing for your opponent to make tough shots (which Richmond did). It’s quite another to get outhustled, outworked, and out-efforted (yes I just made up a word. I’m that mad), like the Commodores did the other night. 

 

Team You’ve Got To Feel Most Badly For: Louisville

 

Yes, I know that when you spot your opponent a 15-2 lead in the first half, you’re setting yourself up for trouble. Still, for a club that was as selfless and team-oriented as Louisville was this year, they deserved better (Especially poor Preston Knowles who had to watch the final seconds of his career tick down, helpless on the bench, with crutches. Poor guy). 

 

There weren’t many teams that I felt genuinely bad for after they lost last weekend. But the Cardinals were one of them.

 

The Toe That Everyone’s Talking About:

 

Alright, so full-disclosure, I didn’t watch a ton of Duke’s opening round win against Hampton. That game was running parallel to the end of George Mason-Villanova and simultaneously to an entertaining Arizona-Memphis game. And even as fast as I can change channels, I couldn’t catch everything. 

 

But with that said, I wasn’t crazy about the vibe I got with Kyrie Irving on the floor for Duke. 

 

Now understand it’s not that Duke played bad, or that Irving did anything wrong in specific. And as much as I’d like to pile on Coach K for playing him at all, I can’t. It was the right call. But as I’ve been saying all week, with Irving playing, it just changes the dynamic of this entire team, with Nolan Smith in particular looking a little lost out there. When Irving was on the court, it seemed like Smith wasn’t sure when to be assertive, when to command the ball, and when to just get the hell out of Kyrie’s way. Understand, Duke is a better team with Kyrie Irving on the court. But not if it throws off Nolan Smith’s confidence. 

 

Obviously this was the first go around, and things will probably be better once this team gets a few practices under their belt. Right now though, I just don’t know how the pieces fit together. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

Now, here’s a quick preview of some of the games I’m looking forward to this weekend:

 

West Virginia vs. Kentucky, Saturday: As crazy as this sounds, I think Deniz Kilicli could be the difference in this game....

 

...What? I’m being serious! Stop laughing!

 

Ok, maybe it’s not Kilicli in specific, but more what the size of West Virginia’s bigs can do to Kentucky. As athletic and talented as the Wildcats are, they really aren’t that big, and just don’t have a lot of size to match up with Kilicli, Kevin Jones, John Flowers and Cam Thoroughman down low.

 

I picked Kentucky to win this game in my pool, but after watching these two the other day, I think West Virginia wins here.

 

Morehead State vs. Richmond: Hey, who wants to get crushed by Kansas next weekend?

 

Butler vs. Pittsburgh: If I were a gambling man, I’d take Butler to cover and Pitt to win. I’ve seen nothing from this Pitt team to make me think they’re blowing anyone out the rest of the tournament (And if you’re wondering, as someone who picked Pitt to go to the Final Four, yes that absolutely terrifies me)

 

Gonzaga vs. BYU, Saturday: If you’re a BYU fan, you’ve got to be a little uneasy with Vegas listing Gonzaga as a favorite, right? Do they know something we don’t? Or is Gonzaga just a better basketball team?

 

Washington vs. North Carolina, Sunday: This could literally end up being the most entertaining game of the entire tournament. Seriously. 

 

Michigan vs. Duke, Sunday: But really, what do Grant Hill and Jalen Rose think of this one?

 

Arizona vs. Texas, Sunday: Texas is going to have four of the five best players on the court, the entire game. Which means very little when Rick Barnes is involved.

 

Marquette vs. Syracuse: The Golden Eagles already beat the Orange once this year. God I hope they do it again.

 

Florida State vs. Notre Dame: A 9:40 tip-off on a Sunday night, huh? Glad that the NCAA is really looking out for the student-athletes!

 

Also, I think Florida State keeps things close. They’re the No. 1 ranked team in the country in defensive field goal percentage, and Notre Dame doesn’t do all that well against real defenses.

 

This one might actually be worth staying up for.

 

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