13 Apr 9 - Can't Keep A Great Team Down (POSTSEASON)
Can't Keep A Great Team Down
So much for all the talk about difficulting shooting in a dome, especially after they moved the court from crosswise in the endzone (the last time the Georgia Dome hosted the Final Four in 2007) to an elevated central position lengthwise at mid-(football)field with temporary low-rise seating extending onto the (football)field. We saw some incredible shooting in this year's Final Four games.
Deserving Most Outstanding Player, gLuke Hancock came to the rescue twice for [M1]Louisville when it needed it the most -- down 12 in the second half against scrappy [W9]Wichita State, and down 12 in the first half against talented [S4]Michigan -- to get the Cardinals back in both of those games; and then gPeyton Siva driving the lane and cChane Behanan pounding the boards wore the Wolverines out in the second half. It seems that no lead is big enough against this squad; and once that run comes, your legs are too dead to stop it, or to keep pace as they blow past you into the lead. Both WichSt and Mich were physically whipped by the end of those games.
The Best Week Ever for UofL coach Rick Pitino, eh? -- his horse won a race to become the favorite for this year's Kentucky Derby; his son, Richard, was named new head coach at Minnesota; he was named one of the new inductees into the Basketball Hall of Fame; and he becomes the first coach ever to win the national championship at two different schools (at interstate arch-rivals, Kentucky and Louisville, no less).
Can't beat that.
And can't beat this team at the end of this year -- (the Cards haven't lost since that 5-OT marathon vs Notre Dame). It wasn't exactly a wire-to-wire domination of the season -- yes, they were the Preseason No. 1 pick -- but they lost to Duke in ATLANTIS (when cGorgui Dieng didn't play, mind you); and they got a lot of help (first from Syracuse, and then from Georgetown) to gain a share of the BIG EAST regular season title; 'Cuse couldn't ride a 16-point lead to victory in the conference tourney final; and then 12-point deficits in both games at the Final Four couldn't keep this great team down.
Hats off to the Mighty Cards!!!
A second foul on gTrey Burke (on yet another tough call) forced John Beilein's hand -- but while gBurke sat, it was unforeseen hero freshman 6-1 gSpike Albrecht who stepped up with the half of his life (16 points, including 4-for-4 on threes) to stake the Wolverines to a 12-point lead at 33-12(4). They didn't miss gBurke's points, but his poise in handling the ball was sorely missed as Louisville put on a mad 16-3 scramble (13 by gHancock, who hit 4 three-pointers of his own) to gain the lead 37-36(1) before the first half was even over.
gBurke and gTim Hardaway Jr. willed the team through the second half, but cMitch McGary wasn't able to be a factor (saddled with his own foul trouble), and no one else could make a big enough impact to help out. Live by the jumper; die by the jumper -- their tired legs couldn't hit enough shots down the stretch while Lville was driving the lane and pounding the boards in the paint.
A great run. A very good team became great in the tournament when the final missing piece of the puzzle emerged; but that complete package wasn't there in the final as there was no interior game to match the big performances from the three perimeter ball-handler/scorers. One of the most entertaining teams to watch; but just not enough in the final. No shame in a magnificent effort, though.
In the semifinals, [W9]Wichita State did a fantastic job for three-quarters of the game not turning the ball over and forcing [M1]Louisville to beat it with jumpers; but with the Shockers up 47-35(13), walk-on reserve gTim Henderson hit two three-pointers and from there gRuss Smith(21p5to) and especially gHancock(20p) led the Cardinals back to a 56-55(6) lead; it was back-and-forth to the end after that with Lville barely holding on.
Against the 2-3 zone, you need a player who can flash to the free throw line, receive passes cleanly, score enough to draw defenders to him, and find open shooters and cutters when the pressure comes -- [S4]Michigan's cMcGary(10p12r6a) had a textbook performance against [E4]Syracuse; beautiful to watch how calmly he executed. It was only when he committed his third foul, with the Wolverines up 43-32(15) that the Orange were able to close the gap (with bC.J. Fair[22p6r] leading the way). A cMcGary jumper made it 53-45(4) and seemed to give UM some breathing room; but it was mighty shaky trying to close it out, helped by some either-way charge/block calls, and just enough free throw-shooting to escape with the win.
In the NIT, [m2]Baylor (23-14) beat [s3]BYU 76-70 in the semis and [e3]Iowa 74-54 in the final, led by Most Outstanding Player pPierre Jackson(20p10a5r avg). (Despite being the first BIG 12 player ever to lead the conference in both scoring and asissts, the first BCS player to do so since pJason Terry [Arizona '99], and only the fifth BCS player in the last 24 years to do it, pJackson had lost out on being named BIG 12 Player of the Year to Oklahoma State's freshman pMarcus Smart, ostensibly due to undearchieving team success. Well, "How do you like me now?")
In the CBI final series, it was MM Santa Clara (26-12) [which started the season with a win at St. Louis but was denied a trip to Kansas City due to pre-set semis in the CBE CLASSIC] who won 2-1 over George Mason (@81-73, 66-@73, 80-@77) as gKevin Foster(23p avg) bested tSherrod Wright(15p7r avg).
In the CIT final, it was "slumming MM" East Carolina (23-12) who took the crown with the road win, 77-@74, on gAkeem Richmond's game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
Are upsets signs of a healthy, competitive tournament or evidence of mediocrity and parity diluting the quality of College Basketball? Having the Preseason favorite come through to win it all points to quality at the top; unexpected breakthroughs from below give truth to the "anything is possible" nature that appeals to the American Dream backdrop that is this tournament at its best. [S15]Florida Gulf Coast gave us the first No. 16-seed to ever make it past the first weekend. [W13b]La Salle proved once again that playing in the FIRST FOUR can give a team momentum it can ride all the way into the Sweet 16. [W9]Wichita State showed that a Mid-Major (which didn't win Title or Tourney inside its own league) is still plenty good enough to make the Final Four (and give the eventual national champ all it could handle). That's the best of both worlds in my book.
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In off-court news, Rutgers coach Mike Rice was fired after video surfaced of his berating players in practice, throwing balls at their heads, shoving them and yelling gay slurs. Assistant coach Eric Murdock brought the issue to the attention of the Athletic Director last year, and his contract wasn't renewed over the summer. When confronted with video evidence in the fall, the A.D. suspended Rice for three games and fined him. It wasn't until ESPN obtained the video and aired it that public outcry led to Rice's dismissal (and ultimately that of the A.D. as well).
If this behavior were anywhere else on campus between faculty and students, it wouldn't have been tolerated for a second; but we're conditioned to this "Plantation mentality" when thinking about coaches and players that doesn't fully respect how to treat these young adults. ESPN's Jalen Rose commented that, when you're on an athletic scholarship, being on the team "is your job" and you can't expect the players to be able to stand up for themselves or speak out properly about being mistreated for fear of losing their meal ticket to a college education. But here, even when a school official objected, the institution failed to respond appropriately. (I overheard a conversation in a bar over the weekend where people were agreeing that they couldn't see what the big deal was about how this coach behaved.) When you have coaches behaving like this and the administration handling it this way, it's one of the reasons that no one out there has the guts to become the Gay Jackie Robinson.
After having "joked" in a meeting that he'd reward any referee who gave a technical to Arizona coach Sean Miller, PAC-12 referee supervisor Ed Rush lost his job. Hard to buy that this was "just a joke" -- what ref, let alone supervisor, doesn't instantly know that you can't display a bias towards a coach like that?
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The team shifts due to the Great Conference Migration didn't have much effect on this year's college basketball season. [S3]Florida's Elite 8 finish was the best the SEC had to show for itself and newcomer [M9]Missouri bowed out right away; BIG 12 [S1]Kansas couldn't get past the Sweet 16 after collapsing to lose in OT (but [m2]Baylor came through to win the NIT). [S5]VCU and [E6]Butler gave the ATLANTIC 10 (8-9) added depth, but their bigger contribution may have been to raise the competitiveness of [W13b]La Salle's Sweet 16 breakthrough (in place of [M4]St. Louis' failure). The BIG EAST's Last Hurrah as a 16-team mega-conference was memorable: 16-9 overall in all tournaments with 3 Elite 8 teams, placing [E4]Syracuse in the Final Four, and the National Champion in [M1]Louisville. (Next year's new "Catholic 7" BIG EAST and the renamed "leftover BIG EAST" won't have near the same stature.)
The BIG 10's outstanding preseason and regular season foretold big postseason success; although, it was a nation's-best 19-9 overall with 4 Sweet 16 teams; two runner-up finishes (NCAA:[S4]Michigan, NIT:[e3]Iowa) feels like a disappointment. The MISSOURI VALLEY (13-6) cleaned up at the highest level (with Final Four [W9]Wichita State) an the lowest with an 8-3 performance in the CIT, including two semifinalists. The ATLANTIC COAST (11-7) got [M2]Duke through to the Elite 8, but [E2]Miami(Florida) couldn't get past the Sweet 16. The WEST COAST gained respect on paper with [W1]Gonzaga's first-ever No. 1 ranking and #1 NCAA seed, but it flopped in the tourney; it was NIT finalist [s3]BYU and CBI champ [mB1]Santa Clara who were most responsible for its 10-4 postseason record. CONFERENCE USA (10-5) rode the exploits of [s1]Southern Missisippi in the NIT and East Carolina's CIT championship. The PACIFIC-12 (7-8) couldn't get past the Sweet 16 (thanks, in part, to poor seeding). The MOUNTAIN WEST (4-7) was so strong in the preseason, but was a flop in the postseason, giving 1BCs two of their three NCAA wins ([W3]New Mexico to [W14]Harvard, and [S7]San Diego State to [S16]Florida Gulf Coast).
Without VCU and Butler, the COLONIAL and HORIZON had to settle for minor success in the CBI from finalist George Mason and semifinalist Wright State. Overall, though, the strong seasons from the MWC, A-10 and WCC bode well for the health of the Mid-Majors.
[S16]Florida Gulf Coast's historic run to the Sweet 16 and [W14]Harvard's upset of [W3]New Mexico were it for 1BC success in the NCAAs. Three road upsets in the NIT ([s7]Mercer over @[s2]Tennessee, [e7]Stony Brook over @[e2]Massachusetts, and [s5]Louisiana Tech over @[s4]Florida State) along with @[m8]Robert Morris' home win over [m1]Kentucky was a pretty good showing. Neither [sB2]George Mason in CBI nor Weber State in CIT could pull off home wins in the finals to claim either of those crowns. A mixed-bag of results for the 1-Bid Conferences overall.
Better postseason success garnered pTrey Burke the national Player of the Year awards (but it was really his teammate, cMitch McGary who was mostly responsible for getting Michigan to the Final Four). Creighton's tDoug McDermott didn't disappoint, but his team was never as strong overall. The 1BC superstars weren't much of a factor in the postseason.
Not the strongest year for freshmen as few (beyond cMcGary) had a big impact in the NCAA tournament.
Louisville lived up to its preseason potential. That's as much as you can ask. Nothing, it seems, could keep this team down -- not second-half deficits, not horrific player injuries -- the irrepressible Cardinals kept finding ways to pull out the win on the way to this year's national championship.
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It always felt like I was playing catch-up all season with the weekly columns this year. Some of that was health-related, especially in the second half of the season. I hope you enjoyed reading this year's HOOP, LINE AND SINKER columns; I still enjoy writing them, obstacles and all.
[Congratulations to the winner of this year's Hoops Contest: Joe Holloway of Vestal, NY -- his second title -- over 155 contestants.]
See y'all next year on The Road To NORTH TEXAS! (I NEED TICKETS!!!)
-- Ron
posted by Ron @ Wednesday, April 10, 2013
