Hoop, Line And Sinker

A weekly column on men's college basketball.

Saturday, October 20, 2018

18 Apr 3 - "Veni, Vidi, DiVincenzo!" (POSTSEASON)

Volume XXI, No. 22 - 18 Apr 3: POSTSEASON

"Veni, Vidi, DiVincenzo!"

In the first National Semifinal, [S11]Loyola(Illinois) looked like it could pull off the upset until [M3]Michigan took over down the stretch and the Ramblers faded. The first half was nervous and featured great defense on the perimeter by both teams. A late spurt gave LoyIL a 29-22 lead at the half and it still led 32-22 right after the break and 41-31 six minutes into the second half; the Wolverines intensified their effort and turned the game around with a 17-2 run to lead 54-47 with five minutes to go as LUC lost its nerve down the stretch as UofM won 69-57 -- xMoritz Wagner(24p15r;10/16fg) had several big offensive rebounds and some killer threes during the stretch run; bCharles Matthews added 17p5r for Mich; fCameron Krutwig(17p6r6to) inside was the one bright spot for LoyIL which never got going from three-point land (1-for-10).
     [E1]Villanova put away the second National Semifinal just four minutes in, leading 22-4 on incredible three-point shooting (13-for-26 in the first half; 18-for-40 for the game). (Scary thing is, only one guy had a beyond-normal performance.) [M1]Kansas got it as close as 57-71, but that was it as the VU/Wildcats rolled in the final, 95-79 (putting away the third-in-a-row of the "Big Three" from the BIG 12) -- six players posted double-figures for 'Nova, led by gEric Paschall(24p;10/11fg), pJalen Brunson(18p6a), xOmari Spellman(15p13r) and tDonte DiVincenzo(15p8r); gDevonte' Graham(23p3a) and tMalik Newman(21p8r) couldn't do nearly enough to even make this a game.
     [E1Villanova set new NCAA records for made threes in a Final Four game (18), made threes in one NCAA tournament (66 and counting) and made threes in a season (454 and counting).

In the National Championship, [W3]Michigan started as well as it could have hoped with a 21-14 lead midway through the first half, having held [E1]Villanova to 1-for-9 on threes to start and bMo Wagner(16p7r) looking unguardable. But the story of this game was one guy -- Most Outstanding Player bDonte DiVincenzo(31p3a5r;10/15fg,5/7 3s) -- who keyed a 9-0 run to give the VU/Wildcats their first lead at 23-21 and a closing spurt gave 'Nova a 37-28 lead at the break. A quick start after halftime put the V-'Cats up 44-30 just two minutes in and 48-33 after five minutes. Only foul trouble on Player Of The Year Jalen Brunson(9p1a) gave the Wolverines any hope of coming back, but bDiVincenzo scored 11-straight points to put away any doubt in the runaway final for VILLANOVA, 79-62 -- can't play catch-up when you struggle from three (3-for-23) like Mich did.
     As a team, [E1]Villanova added to the NCAA records it broke in the semis for final totals for most threes in one NCAA tournament [76] and in a season [464]. Individually, Donte DiVincenzo (off the bench, no less) turned in one of the best performances ever in the National Championship game -- (only Glen Rice[Michigan] in '89 had 30+ pts/five 3s; 30+ pts/66% shooting is the stuff of UCLA's Lew Alcindor[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar] and Bill Walton). This VU/Wildcat team just had too many weapons to keep everybody down for the entire game. Only three other teams have ever won all six NCAA games by double-digits (Michigan '00, Duke '01 and North Carolina '09).

Jay Wright gets his second National Championship, which separates him even from some Hall of Fame coaches. In one sense, though, it's more about the five-year run (165-21) this program has put together -- (pBrunson started on the 2016 team as well). The intensity and level of focus on every possession is all about the coach and the mindset he instills in his players. This team was no exception (and had the spectacular three-point shooting ability as a bonus).

The B-Majors took until the Elite 8 to lock out everybody else from the NCAAs (more normal than last year, when they claimed every one of the Sweet 16 spots). The BIG 10 (9-4, led by 5-1 Mich) and BIG EAST (9-5, led by 6-0 'Nova) had the best performances overall. The BIG 12 (12-7, three Elite 8 teams plus Final 4 Kans) and "Mega"-ACC (12-9, four Sweet 16s, two Elite 8s [including Duke>'Cuse]) were disappointments considering their overall depth. The SEC (8-8) got none of its teams past the Elite 8 while the AMERICAN (2-3) didn't get anyone past the second round.
     Arizona's No.4 seed could have counted the PACIFIC-12 as a multi-bid B-Major, but its overall rating was squarely in Mid-Major territory (and its stunning 0-3 NCAA performance vindicates its rating over 'Zona's seed). The ATLANTIC 10 (2-3 [counting a Play-In win]) made no real impression, either. Despite being rated as Mid-Majors, you could technically call the MISSOURI VALLEY (4-1, all Final 4 LoyIL), the WEST COAST (2-1, all No.4 Gonz) and the MOUNTAIN WEST (2-2, two bids only thanks to Party-Crasher SDgoSt) all as Anti-Spoiler 1BCs -- but LUC all the way to the Final 4 and Gonz/Nev through to the Sweet 16 bodes well for the depth of College Basketball. The SUN BELT (0-1) was not well served by its Jack Dawson entry (GaSt).
     1BC-land made three big splashes (including one for the ages) that are a great sign of healthy depth. The AMERICAN EAST (1-1) managed to pull off the FIRST #16-SEED OVER #1-SEED upset in the history of the NCAA tournament (even with a Jack Dawson representative, MdBC). CONFERENCE USA (1-1) pulled off its FOURTH-STRAIGHT 32-SLASH WIN (via JD Marsh). The MID-AMERICAN (1-1) did its damage with veteran TiTo squad Buff).

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In the NIT, [w2]/PAC12[3a]Utah edged [m4]/CUSA[3]Western Kentucky (69-64 despite 24p11r from xJustin Johnson) in one semi. After winning two road games just to get to New York, [e4]/BIG10[6b]Penn State routed its two opponents in MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (75-60 over Mississippi State; and 82-66 over Utah) to claim the NIT crown behind MOP Lamar Stevens (with lots of help from pTony Carr).
     In the CBI Championship Series, the home team handled its business in all three games. That meant [nwA1]/WCC[4a]San Francisco won the first game at home (@72-62 as xChase Foster[17p6a10r] countered 10p22r from cZachary Simmons); but then [nwA1]/CUSA[7a]North Texas turned the tide with two straight home wins (@69-55 committing only 3 turnovers total) and (@88-77 sinking 32-for-43 free throws led by MVP Roosevelt Smart[25p0a;14/14ft] for a 2-1 overall win).
     In the CIT, HORIZ[3]Illinois(Chicago) road-dumped host BIGS[5a]Liberty (67-@51) in one semi while host [1x]/SKY[5]Northern Colorado thumped [1x]/SLAND[4]Sam Houston State (@99-80 shooting 17-for-30 on threes as pAndre Spight[40p5a5to;15/24fg] starred). In the final, host [1x]/SKY[5]Northern Colorado edged UIC (@76-71 behind MVP pAndre Spight[23p5a;7/22fg,3/14 3s] as tJordan Davis[29p8r] starred).

The decline in rating of the PACIFIC-12 to Mid-Major status bloated the MM representation in the NIT (from last year's 14-3-15 split among BM-MM-1BC teams to 11-9-12 this year). But after going 5-0 in Round One, the PAC-12 was only 3-5 from there (mostly thanks to 4-1 [w2]Utah). [m4]CUSA/Western Kentucky's 3-1 run led its conference to 4-2 and the Red Swirl to 4-5 records. But a B-Major also-ran winning yet again (SIX IN SEVEN YEARS now) says top-down power remains comfortably in place.
     The one "slumming" Mid-Major in the CBI, WCC/San Francisco, did go 4-2 but otherwise [nwA1]North Texas' 5-1 run gave CUSA the only outstanding performance among 1BCs (while four WAC teams only managed to go 1-4 between them).
     CIT champ [1x]Northern Colorado was completely responsible for the BIG SKY's 4-1 record (and a middle-of-the-Red Swirl winner is a healthy surprise). 3-1 and 2-1 aren't bad for Flop 1BCs HORIZON(Illinois[Chicago]) and the BIG SOUTH(Liberty).

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New to the Final Four festivities this year was the 3X3U three-on-three tournament. It's a three-day tournament featuring four-man teams from all 32 conferences (except the PAC-12, which didn't get a team together in time). It's a paid event for seniors who've exhausted their eligibility -- $1000 per win and $50,000 to the overall winning team/conference. They seeded all the conferences and placed them into 8 four-team pools (according to an "S-Curve"). Within each pool, the teams played round-robin games on Friday and Saturday to determine 8 pool winners. Then those 8 teams advanced to a quarterfinal bracket played out to its conclusion all day on Sunday (and broadcast on ESPN2). The games were quick (20-minutes each; first to 21). Pretty fun event, actually.
     Pool Play was full of upsets with Pool winners being: [32]SWAC{[1]BIG 12}, [31]MEAC{[2]ACC}, [30]BIG WEST{[3]BIG EAST}, [4]SEC, [5]BIG 10, [22]IVY{[6]PACIFIC-12,[11]ATLANTIC 10}, [10]WEST COAST{[7]AMERICAN} and [25]AMERICA EAST{[8]MOUNTAIN WEST}. For third place, [31]MEAC beat [32]SWAC 21-14. In the final, the [5]BIG 10(tVincent Edwards[Purd], tJae'Sean Tate[OhioSt], pNate Mason[Minn]; fRobert Johnson[IU]) beat the [30]BIG WEST 21-13.

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In the big picture of the conferences, the BIG 12 had its highest regular-season rating ever but was a disappointment in the postseason (15-10, 1 Final Four). The "Mega"-ACC was even more of a bust (15-12, no Elite 8s, no NIT semi). Instead, it's the BIG 10 that was by far the most successful conference in the postseason (14-5 overall, 1 Final Four, NIT champ, 3X3U champ). The MISSOURI VALLEY (5-2, 1 Final Four) had one team go on a glorious run. Maybe more impressive than anything, CONFERENCE USA improved its rating from Red Swirl to Mid-Major based on its postseason prowess (11-5, 4th-straight NCAA Splash, CBI champ, 5 teams had postseason wins). The BIG SKY (4-3, CIT champ), MID-AMERICAN (4-4, 32-Splash) and AMERICA EAST (1-3, the biggest 32-Splash win of all time) all did the Red Swirl proud. At 5-3, the BIG SOUTH (CBI semi, CIT final) performed well above its 1BC-Flop status.
     For the season in College Basketball, off the court, The Shoe Scandal cast a long shadow over the season (most notably costing Hall-of-Famer Rick Pitino his job at Louisville and getting Sean Miller suspsended at Arizona) and probably more is still to come, unfortunately. On the court, Kansas/Bill Self broke the all-time record with FOURTEEN-STRAIGHT BIG 12 TITLES while Gonzaga/Mark Few kept it rolling with SEVENTEEN OF EIGHTEEN WCC TITLES (including SIX-STRAIGHT TiTo CROWNS). In the NCAAs, the GREATEST UPSET IN THE HISTORY OF THE TOURNAMENT shot down top-seeded Virginia at the hands of inspired Maryland-Baltimore County. Ultimately, record-setting three-point shooting propelled Villanova/Jay Wright to their second National Title in three years. New "America's Team" Loyola(Illinois) rode its guards all the way to the Final Four. Long-term trends? Nah. Noteworthy season? Some memorable bits here and there.
     No give-backs for Tony Bennett's Coach Of The Year prize based on the regular season just because of one (monumental) postseason loss. Player Of The Year looked to be locked up in January as pTrae Young(Oklahoma) led the nation in both scoring and assists but his team's success plummeted in the second-half of conference play. Instead, POY came down to pJalen Brunson(Villanova) over pDevonte' Graham(Kansas) as both took their teams to the Final Four. Second-half team collapse aside, individually pTrae Young(OK) got the nod for Golden Child Of The Year (although cDeAndre Ayton[Arizona]'s physical talent was like nothing we've seen since Hakeem Olajuwon[Houston] in the early 1980s). Sixth Man bDonte DiVincenzo came off the bench to turn in a Most Outstanding Player performance that recalled the all-time greats.

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Due to Family Emergency issues this time, I once again got a month or two behind in writing this year's weekly columns and never caught up by the time the NCAA tournament came around. (The last couple of months of columns were written anachronistically [after the season was over] in as faithful a way as possible as to how I would have perceived things at the proper concurrent time.)

Well, it only took 35 years, but your truly finally won this year's Hoops Contest over a field of 129 contestants! (See what happens when you basically take February off!?) I must admit it's quite a satisfying feeling to see so many of the games play out much the way you expected them to on paper. (Plus, it's just a kick to win anything, really!)

Thanks, everybody, for reading this year's columns. Hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I still very much enjoy writing them.

Next year, it's the Road To Minneapolis!

-- Ron