It's only mid-January, but the action this weekend in college basketball had a March feel to it. With Lance, Manti, Lennay, NFL Conference Championship dominating headlines the last few days, college basketball nudged its way into the fold with a couple of impressive performances.
While we'll focus on two come-from-behind wins for Syracuse, we can't talk about the weekend of college hoops without giving some love to Butler, Roosevelt Jones, Brad Stevens, Jimmy Chitwood and the Hinkle Magic. If this video doesn't give you some sort of chills, there is something wrong with you.
Butler pulled off the win over Gonzaga, an instant classic between two "mid-majors" that both have a chance to make a run to the Final 4 this year. Even more impressive, the Dawgs (Butler not Gonzaga) got the win without their leading scorer, Rotnei Clark, who missed the last two games with a neck injury. Clark has produced some of his own magic for Butler this season.
Earlier in the day, Syracuse traveled to the Yum! to take on top ranked Louisville. It would be the Orange's second game without super 6th man James Southerland, who is out indefinitely due to some academic issues (Southerland being ineligible a year after Fab Melo had issues is a whole other story that we could explore at length...what's the issue guys? Go to class and do you work. It's not THAT difficult).
Sure Southerland comes off the bench, but in Jim Boeheim's world, that doesn't really matter (see: Waiters, Dion). Southerland's impact can be seen in the box score despite not starting. The senior is 2nd in scoring, 4th in minutes, 3rd in rebounding and is the teams best 3-point shooter as what people are now calling a stretch-4 (a forward who can shoot it from deep to...you got it, stretch the floor).
In Southerland's first game out, Syracuse overcame an ugly first half to eventually pull away from a pesky Villanova team at the Dome. This weekend's match up with Louisville, arguably the best team in the Big East, if not the country (Boeheim believes this), would prove what Syracuse would be able to do with Southerland who may not return this season.
A classic Big East battle between two top 6 teams that will be playing in the ACC next year ensued on Saturday afternoon. Tied at the half, Louisville held a slim lead the majority of the 2nd half. SU finally regained the lead with 5:30 to play thanks to five straight points from Michael Carter-Williams. MCW, who struggled the majority of the game put the team on his shoulders down the stretch. He did it on both ends of the court, including a steal, dunk and faceful of hardwood to give the Cuse the lead for good....see for yourself.
MCW then made 1 of 2 free throws to put SU up 2 with 13 seconds left. On Louisville's final possession, it was Carter-Williams who came away with a steal to seal the deal.
Let's take a step back and recap the last 6 minutes of the game:
MCW scored 10 of the last 12 points for Syracuse. The other basket, a layup by Jerami Grant (a Daily Onions favorite) was assisted by Carter-Williams. On Louisville's final three possessions...MCW had a steal, had a rebound (off of a Grant block) and added another steal on the final play of the game.
The kid gets it. Sure, he has some growing up to do and he has a tendency to start slow in games, but he has the ability to take over a game on both ends of the floor. It's the reason NBA scouts have him as a top 10 pick next year.
Great. He has a good game on a big stage. How does he follow up that up less than 48 hours later? Well for one thing, he gets Bill Raftery a little excited....
With 3 minutes left, Syracuse found itself trailing Cincinnati by four points. Enter MCW. Five straight points by the sophomore tied the game at 55. A CJ Fair tip-in following a Jerami Grant drive with 22 seconds left would give the Orange the 57-55 win.
Carter-Williams would finish with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal. Oh by the way, he only turned it over 3 times.
I'm not ready to retire his number or name a practice facility after him, but its been a pretty impressive 48 hours for Michael Carter-Williams. A McDonald's All-American two years ago, who almost transferred last year because he had to sit behind Triche, Waiters and Scoop, its safe to say its been worth the wait for Orange nation. With or without Southerland, Michael Carter-Williams has shown he can step up when his team needs it the most.
Showing posts with label Butler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Butler. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2013
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Early Season Onions
Tis the season for turkey, travel, Thanksgiving, the start of college basketball and ...... ONIONS! Yesterday we got our first taste of college basketball onions, when Butler's Rotnei Clark gave the Bulldogs the last second victory over Marquette at the Maui Invitational. See for yourself...
The one unfortunate thing about this game, is that is was played in the early session of the Maui Invitational, which meant that Bill Raftery was NOT on the call. We all know what would have happened if Raftery was on the airwaves. Let's flashback to Raftery in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, where we get 3 Onions calls in the final minutes of the Ohio State-Siena game, including a "Double-Order" to cap things off.
Raftery is back on the mic tonight calling the North Carolina-Butler game. Let's hope there are a few orders of Onions on the menu tonight.
The one unfortunate thing about this game, is that is was played in the early session of the Maui Invitational, which meant that Bill Raftery was NOT on the call. We all know what would have happened if Raftery was on the airwaves. Let's flashback to Raftery in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, where we get 3 Onions calls in the final minutes of the Ohio State-Siena game, including a "Double-Order" to cap things off.
Raftery is back on the mic tonight calling the North Carolina-Butler game. Let's hope there are a few orders of Onions on the menu tonight.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Return of the Onions
What happens when you are on an airplane for four and half hours, need a break from doing your "real" job (thank you wifi on Southwest!), and start seeing some tweets about college basketball media day? You rededicate yourself to your college basketball blog, that's what you do!
And then you go and post this song to get it stuck in everyone's head - throwback to high school anyone?
By the way, did you know that the Return of the Mack official video has 8,996,280 views on youtube? I have no bearing on whether or not this is super high or average. As reference, This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan has just over 9 million views, while Thong Song has over 17 mllion views. And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you work The Thong Song into a college basketball blog post.
Now, onto more pertinent information regarding some college hoops. Here are a few stories we are following (not breaking).
Sunk my aircraft carrier? Our beloved Syracuse Orange were set to square off against San Diego State on November 9th on the retired USS Midway aircraft carrier flight deck, which is docked in San Diego. This would be the second straight year a basketball game was being played on a aircraft carrier (last year it was UNC and Michigan State).
As of this morning, it looks like this game is in limbo. Apparently the fan fest, concert, and other tomfoolery around the event are all being canceled because the inability to find a national sponsor. Interesting since the game is just over a month away. I'm sure Ron Burgundy and Champ Kind will have more details as this story breaks.
It would be ironic if the game does get canceled though. Syracuse, who gets a bad rap for not playing outside the state of NY until January most seasons, tries to not only go across the country to play again, but they aren't even playing the game on land. Maybe its just not meant to be. Stay at the Dome, Jimmy B.
Jabari Parker: The top ranked player in high school hoops since LeBron James happens to reside and play in Daily Onions backyard on the south side of Chicago. The Simeon High School (same as Derrick Rose) senior has narrowed down his list to five schools. Unfortunately for those fans of in-state schools, DePaul and Illinois are nowhere to be found. According to ESPN recruiting folks, Simeon coach Robert Smith said DePaul was the toughest school for Jabari to leave off the list. Wonder if Oliver Purnell and company can use that in their recruiting pitch..."We were #6 on Jabari's list!!"
The top 5 for Jabari looks like this (in no particular order): Stanford, Michigan State, Duke, BYU and Florida (no Kentucky, thank goodness...Calipari did get the Harrison twin brothers yesterday though, both ranked in the top 5 of the class of 2013). Parker and his family are Mormons, so that explains BYU. From all accounts, Jabari is a great kid all around, (check out this article on him from Sports Illustrated) including the classroom, to go along with his basketball ability. Would be pretty cool to see him go to a BYU or Stanford. My early prediction that doesn't mean a damn thing, Michigan State. I'm basing this on Tom Izzo make a couple of extra trips to Chicago during the season last year, just to sit court side and make eye contact with Jabari.
Butler heading East: You didn't think we were going to get through our first post of 2012-13 without mentioning Onions favorite Butler and Brad Stevens did you? Well the Dawgs are on their way to the Atlantic 10 this season. Stevens and company were at the Jay-Z Center in Brooklyn today for the conference media day. Butler has some high expectations this season (despite being picked to finish 6th in the league), after missing the NCAA tournament last year. They bring everyone important back except Ronald Nored (graduation) and Chrishawn Hopkins (dismissed from team). They also add 6-6 freshman guard Kellen Dunham (2-time All-State player in Indiana), as well as senior Rotnei Clark, who transferred from Arkansas. Clark is said to be one of the best shooters in the country. As he'll soon find out, the measurements in Hinkle Fieldhouse are the same as his court back at home ("10 feet........15 feet").
Happy Birthday! Shout out to Daily Onions loyal reader, my dad. He's celebrating his birthday today (October 5th) poolside or green-side down in Florida. Appreciate all the support, whether it was while I was on the basketball court, on the blogosphere, or life in general. Enjoy!
And then you go and post this song to get it stuck in everyone's head - throwback to high school anyone?
By the way, did you know that the Return of the Mack official video has 8,996,280 views on youtube? I have no bearing on whether or not this is super high or average. As reference, This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan has just over 9 million views, while Thong Song has over 17 mllion views. And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you work The Thong Song into a college basketball blog post.
Now, onto more pertinent information regarding some college hoops. Here are a few stories we are following (not breaking).
Sunk my aircraft carrier? Our beloved Syracuse Orange were set to square off against San Diego State on November 9th on the retired USS Midway aircraft carrier flight deck, which is docked in San Diego. This would be the second straight year a basketball game was being played on a aircraft carrier (last year it was UNC and Michigan State).
As of this morning, it looks like this game is in limbo. Apparently the fan fest, concert, and other tomfoolery around the event are all being canceled because the inability to find a national sponsor. Interesting since the game is just over a month away. I'm sure Ron Burgundy and Champ Kind will have more details as this story breaks.
It would be ironic if the game does get canceled though. Syracuse, who gets a bad rap for not playing outside the state of NY until January most seasons, tries to not only go across the country to play again, but they aren't even playing the game on land. Maybe its just not meant to be. Stay at the Dome, Jimmy B.
 |
| SI.com |
The top 5 for Jabari looks like this (in no particular order): Stanford, Michigan State, Duke, BYU and Florida (no Kentucky, thank goodness...Calipari did get the Harrison twin brothers yesterday though, both ranked in the top 5 of the class of 2013). Parker and his family are Mormons, so that explains BYU. From all accounts, Jabari is a great kid all around, (check out this article on him from Sports Illustrated) including the classroom, to go along with his basketball ability. Would be pretty cool to see him go to a BYU or Stanford. My early prediction that doesn't mean a damn thing, Michigan State. I'm basing this on Tom Izzo make a couple of extra trips to Chicago during the season last year, just to sit court side and make eye contact with Jabari.
Butler heading East: You didn't think we were going to get through our first post of 2012-13 without mentioning Onions favorite Butler and Brad Stevens did you? Well the Dawgs are on their way to the Atlantic 10 this season. Stevens and company were at the Jay-Z Center in Brooklyn today for the conference media day. Butler has some high expectations this season (despite being picked to finish 6th in the league), after missing the NCAA tournament last year. They bring everyone important back except Ronald Nored (graduation) and Chrishawn Hopkins (dismissed from team). They also add 6-6 freshman guard Kellen Dunham (2-time All-State player in Indiana), as well as senior Rotnei Clark, who transferred from Arkansas. Clark is said to be one of the best shooters in the country. As he'll soon find out, the measurements in Hinkle Fieldhouse are the same as his court back at home ("10 feet........15 feet").
Happy Birthday! Shout out to Daily Onions loyal reader, my dad. He's celebrating his birthday today (October 5th) poolside or green-side down in Florida. Appreciate all the support, whether it was while I was on the basketball court, on the blogosphere, or life in general. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Reporting Live......
Daily Onions hits the road this week to check out a few college hoops games in the Chicago area.
Tonight we start with a Big East matchup in Rosemont, when Georgetown takes on a much improved DePaul team. We'll be sure to do a little advance scout for the Orange, who host the Hoyas on February 8th.
Thursday, we'll check out our third Horizon League game in the past two years (Butler at Loyola last year, Valpo at Butler in December), when Butler visits UIC (see a common theme with these Horizon League games?).
On Saturday we make the hour and a half drive to South Bend, Indiana to see the top ranked Syracuse basketball team take on Notre Dame. The Irish are a bit down this year (who isn't in the Big East this year), but have a nice road win at Louisville in double OT. However, more recently, they got blown out at home by UConn and dropped one on the road to Rutgers last night. Entering the Syracuse game, the Irish will be 11-8 overall, 3-3 in conference play and Mike Brey will still be wearing a mock turtleneck with a blazer on the sideline.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
No Money, No Problem
If you've been a loyal reader over the past 11 and a half months, you'll know a few things about Daily Onions: We bleed Syracuse Orange, we love college basketball and we've become enamored with the Butler basketball program, more specifically their coach Brad Stevens (still waiting for my chance to do a flying chest bump with him). Did this affection start when the Dawgs ruined Syracuse's National Championship hopes in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 in 2010? Maybe, but let's not talk about the game anymore.
Last night on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, they profiled Stevens and his accomplishments over the past 4 seasons at Butler. Everyone knows about the back to back National Championship game appearances. But what you might not realize, is that in his first four seasons as a head coach, Stevens has the most wins in NCAA history during that time. Coach K's first four years, Jim Boeheim's first four years, Calipari, Pitino, Knight, Huggins, etc, none of them had more wins in their first four years as a head coach.
Its been well documented that Butler is the small, bare bones, Indiana basketball school right out of the movie Hoosiers. Their home court, Hinkle Field House, was built 83 years ago (83!) right before the Great Depression in 1928.
The most interesting and unbelievable piece of last night's story was when Stevens was asked about Butler's recruiting budget. It was estimated that Butler men's basketball program spent about $73,000 on recruiting in 2010 (a number in which Stevens called a bit inflated). Let's compare that number to the teams that Butler played in the National Championship game the past two years, Duke and UConn. In 2010, Coach K and the Blue Devils spent over $900,000, while UConn spent close to $525,000 (and Jim Calhoun isn't giving back one dime of that).
Duke spends 13 times as much on recruiting as Butler does, yet the Dawgs have ended up in the final game in the past two seasons (a couple inches away from beating Duke in 2010).
Stevens says that its all about recruiting the kids that will become the players you want them to be in college, as well as getting kids that will play with 'moxy' (his words). When asked if he thinks Butler can get back to the final game for an unprecedented third time in a row, Stevens says its all about winning the next game, winning the next play.
One of the next times that Butler steps on the court, December 3rd against Valpo to be exact, Daily Onions will be there in person, getting its first look in person experience at Hinkle Field House. If given the opportunity, you can guarantee we'll try to measure the height of the rim (10 feet) and the distance to the foul line (15 feet), since Hinkle has "the exact same measurements as our gym in Hickory."
***Now you can get Daily Onions posts delivered to your email inbox! In the upper right hand corner, type in your email address and a new blog entry will be emailed to you once it is posted. Thanks for reading! ***
 |
| Stevens and Butler have their eyes set on a 3rd straight Final Four appearance |
Its been well documented that Butler is the small, bare bones, Indiana basketball school right out of the movie Hoosiers. Their home court, Hinkle Field House, was built 83 years ago (83!) right before the Great Depression in 1928.
The most interesting and unbelievable piece of last night's story was when Stevens was asked about Butler's recruiting budget. It was estimated that Butler men's basketball program spent about $73,000 on recruiting in 2010 (a number in which Stevens called a bit inflated). Let's compare that number to the teams that Butler played in the National Championship game the past two years, Duke and UConn. In 2010, Coach K and the Blue Devils spent over $900,000, while UConn spent close to $525,000 (and Jim Calhoun isn't giving back one dime of that).
Duke spends 13 times as much on recruiting as Butler does, yet the Dawgs have ended up in the final game in the past two seasons (a couple inches away from beating Duke in 2010).
 |
| Hinkle Field House in Indianapolis (pic:Butler Athletics) |
One of the next times that Butler steps on the court, December 3rd against Valpo to be exact, Daily Onions will be there in person, getting its first look in person experience at Hinkle Field House. If given the opportunity, you can guarantee we'll try to measure the height of the rim (10 feet) and the distance to the foul line (15 feet), since Hinkle has "the exact same measurements as our gym in Hickory."
***Now you can get Daily Onions posts delivered to your email inbox! In the upper right hand corner, type in your email address and a new blog entry will be emailed to you once it is posted. Thanks for reading! ***
Friday, October 14, 2011
College Basketball is Back! (Kind of)
A wise man once said, "I don't know if it will make any change, but I figure its time for me to start playing ball." That wise man was Jimmy Chitwood. And in the spirit of Jimmy, Hoosiers and basketball, Daily Onions doesn't know if it will make any change, but we figure its time for us to start writing about basketball.
With the official kickoff of college basketball season (practices at least) tonight with "Midnight Madness", Daily Onions takes a look at what's on tap for the upcoming season:
1. Preseason Rankings!! We actually wrote about how stupid preseason rankings were last year in December after Harrison Barnes, a preseason 1st Team All-American before he even put on the baby blue Tar Heel uniform, struggled out of the gate, and UConn, the eventual National Champion catapulted to #9 a few weeks into the season, after being left out of the Top 25 preseason poll. This season's Top 5 Preseason Poll looks like this:
3. Road Trippin': While the schedule Gods did not grace us with a Big E Hoops Weekend Round 2 scenario, Daily Onions is planning on hitting the road to catch lots of games in person this season. We'll catch the Cuse at Notre Dame in January, we are taking a trip to see Brad Stevens and Hinkle Field House for a Butler game, we'll see what Big East teams roll through the Windy City to play DePaul, and will be sure to catch some Big Ten action up in Evanston. In short, we love college basketball, and we can wait to watch it....as I am sure that goes for the First Lady of Daily Onions as well.
With that said, in order to live up to our Jimmy Chitwood promise, we'll be posting weekly leading up to the start of the season, and then will get things going a bit more from there. We are only 9 posts away from 100, so we'll be sure to have a HUGE celebration commemorating some of our favorites from the first 100, and previewing what the second hundred have in store.
Thanks for reading, and here's to a great college basketball season.
 |
| Check out video of Jimmy Chitwood Gettin' Back into the Game |
1. Preseason Rankings!! We actually wrote about how stupid preseason rankings were last year in December after Harrison Barnes, a preseason 1st Team All-American before he even put on the baby blue Tar Heel uniform, struggled out of the gate, and UConn, the eventual National Champion catapulted to #9 a few weeks into the season, after being left out of the Top 25 preseason poll. This season's Top 5 Preseason Poll looks like this:
- UNC: Harrison Barnes, Kyler Zeller, John Henson, Kyle Marshall all return. That should be enough. Throw in two McDonald All-Americans....the early favorite to win it all and run the table.
- Kentucky: Terrence Jones surprised everyone and came back to school, along with Doron Lamb (the 2nd best Lamb in college bball), and Darius Miller. Coach Cal, the snake oil salesman, also brings in the two of the best freshman in the country in Anthony Davis (Chicago) and Michael Gilchrist (NJ). Good combo of NJ and Chicago there.
- UConn: The Defending Champs bring back Jeremy Lamb, the little brother of Daily Onions loyal reader, Ramy. He joins one of our favorite big man underclassmen from last year, Alex Oriakhi, along with Shabazz Nappier, Roscoe Smith, and Tyler "White" Olander. Stud newcomer Andre Drummond will help as well.
- Syracuse: Oh, no (Cuse is in the House). High expectations for the Orange this year? That can't be good for the Cuse faithful. Everyone's favorite PG to hate, Scoop Jardine is back to run the show. All reports say that Scoop had a great summer at various camps and a stint w/ Team USA. Let's hope he learned how to be smart with the ball. The Cuse also returns Kris Joseph, who was picked as a 1st Team All-American. And that's right there is why we talk about how preseason rankings don't mean anything. We love Joseph, but a 1st Team All-American?!? Prove me wrong, Kris. Rounding things out for the Cuse are Brandon Triche, CJ Fair (Daily Onions Favorite), Dion Waiters (hopefully with a new attitude), Fab Melo, Baye Moussa Keita, James Southerland, Mookie Jones, Andy Rautins, Otis Hill.......right, you get it. The Orange return a lot. They also bring in 2 McDonalds All-Americans in Rakeem Christmas (lots of puns coming your way) and Michael Carter Williams. Trevor Cooney is another frosh, who folks are hoping can light the Dome up from outside.
- Ohio State University: No THE this year for OSU. Since we picked them to win it all, and they decided to bounce in the Sweet 16, you get no love from Daily Onions....for now. Once we see that large backside of Jared Sullinger (he actually slimmed down, though), I'm sure we'll rekindle the love. William Buford and Aaron Craft important returners for the Buckeyes.
- Duke: Yes, we can count. Duke is #6. Quick thought on the Blue Devils. They have arguably the best freshman in Austin Rivers, they return guards Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins, and now have three, yes THREE Plumlee brothers (not that that means anything). We are very excited to see Austin Rivers play. When we saw him at the McDonald's All-American game, we called him "Steph Curry with a little more pop".....whatever that means.
3. Road Trippin': While the schedule Gods did not grace us with a Big E Hoops Weekend Round 2 scenario, Daily Onions is planning on hitting the road to catch lots of games in person this season. We'll catch the Cuse at Notre Dame in January, we are taking a trip to see Brad Stevens and Hinkle Field House for a Butler game, we'll see what Big East teams roll through the Windy City to play DePaul, and will be sure to catch some Big Ten action up in Evanston. In short, we love college basketball, and we can wait to watch it....as I am sure that goes for the First Lady of Daily Onions as well.
With that said, in order to live up to our Jimmy Chitwood promise, we'll be posting weekly leading up to the start of the season, and then will get things going a bit more from there. We are only 9 posts away from 100, so we'll be sure to have a HUGE celebration commemorating some of our favorites from the first 100, and previewing what the second hundred have in store.
Thanks for reading, and here's to a great college basketball season.
| ### |
Monday, April 4, 2011
Dear Diary: 2011 Championship Game - Butler vs. UConn
You are loooking liiiiive at the Daily Onions home office. Actually, you aren't really looking live at it, but we are reporting live from the Daily Onions home office. We are going all out for the final game of the college basketball season (not including Skylar Diggins' coming out party tomorrow night), with a running diary of the National Championship between Butler and UConn.
Let's jump right in with the starting lineups. We kind of miss the alternating starting lineups they used to do in the Championship game, as well as seeing the players autographs on the screen when they are announced. Ahh the good ole days. All the Butler players pet Blue II the Bulldog - except Shawn Vanzant (maybe he is allergic?). Jim Calhoun and Brad Stevens with the pregame handshake, looks more like a grandfather excited to see his grandson.
Kudos to CBS for including Steve Kerr for the Final 4. He's great on NBA games, and has been awesome throughout the tournament. Taking some airtime away from Clark Kellogg is always a plus too.
Nantz's first call - "It's time to settle the Madness." Sounds good, Jim.
18:52 - Chase "Steven" Stigall hits his first shot of the tournament (not really, but close) to give Butler a 3-2 lead. He could provide a nice little spark for the Dawgs.
17:55 - Stigall misses his next three. So much for that.
17:06 - Walker, Mack and Lamb are a combined 0-5.
16:35 - Second fundamental box out by Butler leads to second over the back call on UConn.
15:58 - Andrew Smith sideout on a Kemba Walker layup. First media timeout. Big game nerves in full effect. Walker 0-4, Lamb 0-2, Mack 0-3, Howard 0-2. Oh and by the way, Daily Onions prediction is 60-56 Butler. Low scoring affair as we think both of these teams, especially UConn, are gassed.
15:56 - Steve Kerr says he is expecting a low scoring game....beat you to it, Stevie.
15:30 - Kerr talks about Butler's defensive rotations. We should have set an over/under on how many basketball fundamentals are discussed when talking about Butler tonight. I'd take the over.
15:17 - Howard is the first "star" from either team to score with a 3-pointer, his first of the Final 4.
13:19 - Howard, probably the slowest guy on the court, beats everyone down the court and Ronald Nored finds him with a nice hit ahead. Howard is fouled, drains two - 8-8.
13:06 - "WALKER on the board now" - Nantz (pull up jumper from Kemba)
12:34 - Walker driving layup in transition.......and the foul. Makes the FT, UConn goes up 13-8.
12:20 - Kemba gets a break...Calhoun sees the under 12 timeout approaching, to give Kemba some extra rest.
11:58 - First turnover of the game by Butler and we head to another media timeout. UConn leads 13-9. Walker has 5, Oriakhi 4 for UConn, while Howard has 5 for Butler. Mack, Vanzant and Lamb all still scoreless.
11:45 Tyler "White" Olander takes his third shot of the game (a 17 ft jumper), and then Jim Calhoun promptly takes him out. Not surprised.
11:10 "That's Andrew Smith, with the reach around." -Nantz
10:26 Loyal reader Ramy texts me that UConn is too big. Oriaki then picks up his 2nd foul, and the next play Andrew Smith scores on a baby hook in the post. So much for that.
9:35 Mack misses a layup in traffic. Shellllllllvin!!! He's 0-4 and Butler is down 13-11.
9:02 POTENTIAL TURNING POINT: 7th team foul on UConn - shooting from here on out. Mack makes one of two...he's on the board!
8:16 Butler's size causing problems. On an offensive rebound, Andrew Smith draws Lamb's 2nd foul. Smith makes one of two. Tied at 13! Sloppy basketball at its best!!!
7:40 Kerr says both teams struggling to find any rhythm. Seriously, Steve, stop stealing my lines.
7:20 STIGALL again!!! Butler up 16-15. (Nantz tells us Stigall is from SteveAlford, Indiana).
6:44 Media Timeout. Butler leads 16-15. Butler shooting 22% from the field, UConn shooting 29%. I'll take "The Under" for $300, Alex.
6:03 Back to back baskets by UConn and Huskies go up 19-16.
4:46 UConn with a couple of offensive rebounds to keep a possession alive, now lead 23-16 on the glass. Ramy was right - too big.
4:14 Mack with his first field goal, a three, to tie the game at 19.
3:49 Final media timeout of the half comes on a dumb foul by Vanzant. Stevens tells him that he is smarter than that. He's right. All square at 19.
Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there....with a Hot Tub!
2:46 Howard takes a charge on Kemba. That's number 2 on Walker. Game still tied at 19. Butler has only made 5 field goals this half (5-24).
44.8 Howard takes another charge. And Roscoe Smith picks up his second foul. Kerr tells us Butler considers taking charges their version of blocked shots. White boy blocked shots. I like it. I definitely led the team in White Boy Blocks back in high school.
As time expires, Shelvin Mack drains a three from deeep. Butler takes a 22-19 lead to the half. "Mack is Back" - Nantz (Jim is already in Augusta).
So at the half, Mack and Walker both have 7 points. If you drew Chase Stigall in the second leading scorer at the half pool, you won! He's got 6. Biggest surprise, Lamb is 0-1 with no points and 2 fouls.
All around ugly game. Both teams playing hard, but its ugly. Neither team shooting higher than 24% from the field. Butler has made six baskets, only one of them as two-point bucket. UConn is up 14-0 in points in the paint, and are up 9 in the rebounding column and are trailing by 3 at the half. Makes sense.
Show Us Your Onions finalist Brady gets in on some twitter action with this gem: #bradstevenslookslike ... Matt Howard's younger brother that he gives noogies to....
And we are back....
19:45 STIGALL again!!! He's got 9 points. Lamb who? Kemba Who? We got Chase Stigall!! Butler up 25-19.
19:21 Oh, there's Lamb. Draws a foul and makes 2 FTs to FINALLY get on the board.
18:32 Kemba...for 2. 25-23 Butler.
17:46 Welcome to the ballgame Jeremy Lamb, who drains a 3 - UConn up 26-25. Loyal reader, Ramy tweets that he wishes Jeremy Lamb was his younger brother. Not really sure what that means, but we do too!
Loyal reader JaLil texts me a reference about The Wire and Alex Oriakhi, that I didn't get because I haven't watched it yet. I'll get to it...I promise.
15:54 Media timeout 27-25, UConn leads.
15:02 Nored misses a 3 for Butler. That means that the only 3-pointer that Nored has ever made at Butler was a banked in 3 against Syracuse, in the final minutes of last year's Sweet 16 game. #stillhurts #notbitter
13:37 Lamb with a steal and a dunk. He's got 7 in the 2nd half and UConn is now up 31-26. Timeout Brad Stevens. Kerr points out that it might only be a five point lead, but it feels like a lot more. He's right (obviously). Butler is 7-41 from the field, and Mack is 2-12. I've seen fourth grade CYO games with better shooting.
Reader Kenny texts with this "Who told Shelvin to play like Jimmer tonight?" You could add William Buford, Erving Walker, and Nolan Smith to that list.
13:15 Right on cue, Howard misses a shot in the lane.
12:56 Lamb misses a jumper, gets his own rebound, and then hits a jumper. 33-26, Lamb has 9, and a new older brother, Ramy.
Reader JaLil texts with a Clark Kellogg "bang bus" joke. Always good for a laugh.
12:32 Ladies and Gentleman, we'd like to welcome Shawn Vanzant to the ballgame, as he hits a jumper. Cuts the UConn lead to 5.
11:50 Media timeout. "The Dog Fight....continues in Houston." - Nantz (way to get creative, Jim. If you are going to mail it in, at least hand the mic over to Gus).
11:07 Its becoming the Jeremy Lamb show as he catches an alley oop and lays it in. 37-28 UConn. Lamb now has 11 points in 9 minutes.
10:12 Kemba with an acrobatic layup to give UConn a 39-28, leading to a Butler timeout. This is Butler's largest deficit of the Tournament. As we go to break, "UConn on a roll, a finger roll..." -Nantz (Jim, make it stop)
9:50 Howard misses another layup...doing his best 2010 Rick Jackson impression in the paint (credited to JaLil)
I don't remember the last time Butler made a shot. They are 2-21 in the 2nd half. They've missed 19 of their last 20 shots. They are 8-49 in the game. Gross.
7:25 Oriakhi, the UConn center hits a 15 foot jumper...almost rubbing it in. UConn goes up 41-28.
6:11 Andrew Smith ends the drought of six and a half minutes for Butler. But UConn answers with a dunk, lead 43-30 going to the under 8 timeout. "...And they have Walker...Texas Ranger." - Nantz (really?)
5:49 Ramy texts me the "Curtains" call, meaning the game is over and UConn wins.
4:58 Nappier with a driving layup gives UConn a 46-32 lead.
4:35 Vanzant hits a 3, 46-35. If Butler is going to make a run, they need to go now.
3:48 And....Howard throws up a wild running shot in the lane. So much for that comeback.
3:17 The final media timeout. UConn leads 46-35. "UConn has 10 blocks, which ties a NCAA tournament record." -Nantz (hold on, Jim...That wasn't cheesy. Do it over!)
Donyell Marshall is shown in the crowd. We met Donyell at Little Star Basketball Camp at Kutztown University back in 1989 (Daily Onions fun fact of the day).
2:58 Oriakhi grabs another rebound. He's got 11 and 11. Remember when Daily Onions had Oriakhi on our favorite underclassmen list back in January. Yep, we do too!
1:50 We see a graphic that shows the lowest FG% in a championship game was 21% back in 1941. Butler is shooting 19%.
1:40 Mack hits a 3. Lead down to 8. Could have used that one about 5 minutes ago, Shelvin.
:30 Walker at the line, hits 2 free throws. UConn up 53-41.
Clock is winding down....
"The Huskies are the Top Dog in 2011!" -Nantz (Well, you didn't disappoint with that one Jim.)
Oh wait....what's this, another one? "But one thing was very clear tonight in Houston, Connecticut wins best in show." - Nantz (Just go, Jim. Go to Augusta and don't ever come back.)
So, that's that. UConn wins 53-41. After trailing 22-19 at the half, Jeremy Lamb gave the Huskies a huge lift to start the second session. It helped that Butler shot an NCAA Championship worst, 18.8% from the field.UConn was the better team on Monday night, the best team in the last three weeks, and they are the National Champions. Oh, and they were 9th in the Big East this year, so obviously the Big East isn't a strong conference. It's UConn's 3rd Championship since 1999. As we mentioned on Friday, we think Calhoun will go out on top, sidestepping the pending suspension next year and retiring to Cape Cod, or Southern New Jersey if he is like Bo Ryan.
For Butler, one bad game won't take away from the amazing run that they've had the past two years. They are still one of our favorites and we'll take every opportunity to see them play live next year in Chicago. Anything to get us closer to Brad Stevens.
Just because the college basketball season is over, doesn't mean Daily Onions is done. We still need to crown our Show Us Your Onions Champion (Brady Smith), and we'll switch gears to NBA playoffs, with some NBA Draft, coaching carousel, etc mixed in as well over the next few months. Keep coming back!
Let's jump right in with the starting lineups. We kind of miss the alternating starting lineups they used to do in the Championship game, as well as seeing the players autographs on the screen when they are announced. Ahh the good ole days. All the Butler players pet Blue II the Bulldog - except Shawn Vanzant (maybe he is allergic?). Jim Calhoun and Brad Stevens with the pregame handshake, looks more like a grandfather excited to see his grandson.
Kudos to CBS for including Steve Kerr for the Final 4. He's great on NBA games, and has been awesome throughout the tournament. Taking some airtime away from Clark Kellogg is always a plus too.
Nantz's first call - "It's time to settle the Madness." Sounds good, Jim.
18:52 - Chase "Steven" Stigall hits his first shot of the tournament (not really, but close) to give Butler a 3-2 lead. He could provide a nice little spark for the Dawgs.
17:55 - Stigall misses his next three. So much for that.
17:06 - Walker, Mack and Lamb are a combined 0-5.
16:35 - Second fundamental box out by Butler leads to second over the back call on UConn.
15:58 - Andrew Smith sideout on a Kemba Walker layup. First media timeout. Big game nerves in full effect. Walker 0-4, Lamb 0-2, Mack 0-3, Howard 0-2. Oh and by the way, Daily Onions prediction is 60-56 Butler. Low scoring affair as we think both of these teams, especially UConn, are gassed.
15:56 - Steve Kerr says he is expecting a low scoring game....beat you to it, Stevie.
15:30 - Kerr talks about Butler's defensive rotations. We should have set an over/under on how many basketball fundamentals are discussed when talking about Butler tonight. I'd take the over.
15:17 - Howard is the first "star" from either team to score with a 3-pointer, his first of the Final 4.
13:19 - Howard, probably the slowest guy on the court, beats everyone down the court and Ronald Nored finds him with a nice hit ahead. Howard is fouled, drains two - 8-8.
13:06 - "WALKER on the board now" - Nantz (pull up jumper from Kemba)
12:34 - Walker driving layup in transition.......and the foul. Makes the FT, UConn goes up 13-8.
12:20 - Kemba gets a break...Calhoun sees the under 12 timeout approaching, to give Kemba some extra rest.
11:58 - First turnover of the game by Butler and we head to another media timeout. UConn leads 13-9. Walker has 5, Oriakhi 4 for UConn, while Howard has 5 for Butler. Mack, Vanzant and Lamb all still scoreless.
11:45 Tyler "White" Olander takes his third shot of the game (a 17 ft jumper), and then Jim Calhoun promptly takes him out. Not surprised.
11:10 "That's Andrew Smith, with the reach around." -Nantz
10:26 Loyal reader Ramy texts me that UConn is too big. Oriaki then picks up his 2nd foul, and the next play Andrew Smith scores on a baby hook in the post. So much for that.
9:35 Mack misses a layup in traffic. Shellllllllvin!!! He's 0-4 and Butler is down 13-11.
9:02 POTENTIAL TURNING POINT: 7th team foul on UConn - shooting from here on out. Mack makes one of two...he's on the board!
8:16 Butler's size causing problems. On an offensive rebound, Andrew Smith draws Lamb's 2nd foul. Smith makes one of two. Tied at 13! Sloppy basketball at its best!!!
7:40 Kerr says both teams struggling to find any rhythm. Seriously, Steve, stop stealing my lines.
7:20 STIGALL again!!! Butler up 16-15. (Nantz tells us Stigall is from SteveAlford, Indiana).
6:44 Media Timeout. Butler leads 16-15. Butler shooting 22% from the field, UConn shooting 29%. I'll take "The Under" for $300, Alex.
6:03 Back to back baskets by UConn and Huskies go up 19-16.
4:46 UConn with a couple of offensive rebounds to keep a possession alive, now lead 23-16 on the glass. Ramy was right - too big.
4:14 Mack with his first field goal, a three, to tie the game at 19.
3:49 Final media timeout of the half comes on a dumb foul by Vanzant. Stevens tells him that he is smarter than that. He's right. All square at 19.
Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there....with a Hot Tub!
2:46 Howard takes a charge on Kemba. That's number 2 on Walker. Game still tied at 19. Butler has only made 5 field goals this half (5-24).
44.8 Howard takes another charge. And Roscoe Smith picks up his second foul. Kerr tells us Butler considers taking charges their version of blocked shots. White boy blocked shots. I like it. I definitely led the team in White Boy Blocks back in high school.
As time expires, Shelvin Mack drains a three from deeep. Butler takes a 22-19 lead to the half. "Mack is Back" - Nantz (Jim is already in Augusta).
So at the half, Mack and Walker both have 7 points. If you drew Chase Stigall in the second leading scorer at the half pool, you won! He's got 6. Biggest surprise, Lamb is 0-1 with no points and 2 fouls.
All around ugly game. Both teams playing hard, but its ugly. Neither team shooting higher than 24% from the field. Butler has made six baskets, only one of them as two-point bucket. UConn is up 14-0 in points in the paint, and are up 9 in the rebounding column and are trailing by 3 at the half. Makes sense.
Show Us Your Onions finalist Brady gets in on some twitter action with this gem: #bradstevenslookslike ... Matt Howard's younger brother that he gives noogies to....
And we are back....
19:45 STIGALL again!!! He's got 9 points. Lamb who? Kemba Who? We got Chase Stigall!! Butler up 25-19.
19:21 Oh, there's Lamb. Draws a foul and makes 2 FTs to FINALLY get on the board.
18:32 Kemba...for 2. 25-23 Butler.
17:46 Welcome to the ballgame Jeremy Lamb, who drains a 3 - UConn up 26-25. Loyal reader, Ramy tweets that he wishes Jeremy Lamb was his younger brother. Not really sure what that means, but we do too!
Loyal reader JaLil texts me a reference about The Wire and Alex Oriakhi, that I didn't get because I haven't watched it yet. I'll get to it...I promise.
15:54 Media timeout 27-25, UConn leads.
15:02 Nored misses a 3 for Butler. That means that the only 3-pointer that Nored has ever made at Butler was a banked in 3 against Syracuse, in the final minutes of last year's Sweet 16 game. #stillhurts #notbitter
13:37 Lamb with a steal and a dunk. He's got 7 in the 2nd half and UConn is now up 31-26. Timeout Brad Stevens. Kerr points out that it might only be a five point lead, but it feels like a lot more. He's right (obviously). Butler is 7-41 from the field, and Mack is 2-12. I've seen fourth grade CYO games with better shooting.
Reader Kenny texts with this "Who told Shelvin to play like Jimmer tonight?" You could add William Buford, Erving Walker, and Nolan Smith to that list.
13:15 Right on cue, Howard misses a shot in the lane.
12:56 Lamb misses a jumper, gets his own rebound, and then hits a jumper. 33-26, Lamb has 9, and a new older brother, Ramy.
Reader JaLil texts with a Clark Kellogg "bang bus" joke. Always good for a laugh.
12:32 Ladies and Gentleman, we'd like to welcome Shawn Vanzant to the ballgame, as he hits a jumper. Cuts the UConn lead to 5.
11:50 Media timeout. "The Dog Fight....continues in Houston." - Nantz (way to get creative, Jim. If you are going to mail it in, at least hand the mic over to Gus).
11:07 Its becoming the Jeremy Lamb show as he catches an alley oop and lays it in. 37-28 UConn. Lamb now has 11 points in 9 minutes.
10:12 Kemba with an acrobatic layup to give UConn a 39-28, leading to a Butler timeout. This is Butler's largest deficit of the Tournament. As we go to break, "UConn on a roll, a finger roll..." -Nantz (Jim, make it stop)
9:50 Howard misses another layup...doing his best 2010 Rick Jackson impression in the paint (credited to JaLil)
I don't remember the last time Butler made a shot. They are 2-21 in the 2nd half. They've missed 19 of their last 20 shots. They are 8-49 in the game. Gross.
7:25 Oriakhi, the UConn center hits a 15 foot jumper...almost rubbing it in. UConn goes up 41-28.
6:11 Andrew Smith ends the drought of six and a half minutes for Butler. But UConn answers with a dunk, lead 43-30 going to the under 8 timeout. "...And they have Walker...Texas Ranger." - Nantz (really?)
5:49 Ramy texts me the "Curtains" call, meaning the game is over and UConn wins.
4:58 Nappier with a driving layup gives UConn a 46-32 lead.
4:35 Vanzant hits a 3, 46-35. If Butler is going to make a run, they need to go now.
3:48 And....Howard throws up a wild running shot in the lane. So much for that comeback.
3:17 The final media timeout. UConn leads 46-35. "UConn has 10 blocks, which ties a NCAA tournament record." -Nantz (hold on, Jim...That wasn't cheesy. Do it over!)
Donyell Marshall is shown in the crowd. We met Donyell at Little Star Basketball Camp at Kutztown University back in 1989 (Daily Onions fun fact of the day).
2:58 Oriakhi grabs another rebound. He's got 11 and 11. Remember when Daily Onions had Oriakhi on our favorite underclassmen list back in January. Yep, we do too!
1:50 We see a graphic that shows the lowest FG% in a championship game was 21% back in 1941. Butler is shooting 19%.
1:40 Mack hits a 3. Lead down to 8. Could have used that one about 5 minutes ago, Shelvin.
:30 Walker at the line, hits 2 free throws. UConn up 53-41.
Clock is winding down....
"The Huskies are the Top Dog in 2011!" -Nantz (Well, you didn't disappoint with that one Jim.)
Oh wait....what's this, another one? "But one thing was very clear tonight in Houston, Connecticut wins best in show." - Nantz (Just go, Jim. Go to Augusta and don't ever come back.)
So, that's that. UConn wins 53-41. After trailing 22-19 at the half, Jeremy Lamb gave the Huskies a huge lift to start the second session. It helped that Butler shot an NCAA Championship worst, 18.8% from the field.UConn was the better team on Monday night, the best team in the last three weeks, and they are the National Champions. Oh, and they were 9th in the Big East this year, so obviously the Big East isn't a strong conference. It's UConn's 3rd Championship since 1999. As we mentioned on Friday, we think Calhoun will go out on top, sidestepping the pending suspension next year and retiring to Cape Cod, or Southern New Jersey if he is like Bo Ryan.
For Butler, one bad game won't take away from the amazing run that they've had the past two years. They are still one of our favorites and we'll take every opportunity to see them play live next year in Chicago. Anything to get us closer to Brad Stevens.
Just because the college basketball season is over, doesn't mean Daily Onions is done. We still need to crown our Show Us Your Onions Champion (Brady Smith), and we'll switch gears to NBA playoffs, with some NBA Draft, coaching carousel, etc mixed in as well over the next few months. Keep coming back!
This is for all the ONIONS!
And then there were two. They both have diplomas from West Virginia University (yes, they actually give diplomas from WVU - I was just as surprised as you were), and they both have UConn in the National Championship game. Brady Smith has UConn winning, so if the Huskies do indeed win in what could be Jim Calhoun's final game as head coach, the Onions go to him. If Butler is able to win one more game in the tournament than they did last year, it will come down to a tiebreaker with total points, giving Lindsay Spieler a chance, and something to brag to her friends about.
Just as there is plenty of media hype around the actual championship game tonight, also lots of festivities surrounding the finals in Show Us Your Onions. Yesterday there was media day, when Spieler and Smith posed for the camera in order to create some promotional photos for Monday night's matchup. No word on whether we'll be putting together a One Shining Moment video for the winner.
As far as our thoughts on the actual game being played tonight, our heart is in one place. Even though we tend to support the Big East, we are fine with touting to the haters that of all of the teams remaining in the NCAA tournament, 50% of them are from our conference. Take that Big 10, ACC and SEC! And even though we are developing a bit of a childhood crush on UConn's freshman Jeremy Lamb, who we partly hope stays in school, so he can add some weight to his frame, but also hope leaves so he doesn't terrorize the 'Cuse next season; we are still rooting for the Butler Bulldogs tonight. What Brad Stevens and the Bulldogs have been able to do over the last twelve months is one of the most impressive pure sports stories in the last 10 years (maybe more), as stated by Smith via phone interview yesterday (and we are in total agreement).
If you aren't rooting for Butler to win tonight, then you probably rooted for the team from South Bend in Hoosiers, you rooted for Roy Hobbs to strike out in his last at bat, you rooted for Rudy to not get a jersey, you rooted for the Soviet hockey team in the 1980 Olympics, and you probably couldn't see Shoeless Joe and Company playing baseball in a cornfield in Iowa. Get it? Many are saying that UConn is the more talented team and the Huskies should beat Butler. But many of those "experts" said the same about Old Dominion, Pitt, Wisconsin, Florida and VCU when they matched up against the Bulldogs. Does UConn have a more individually talented players...yes. No disrespect to what the Huskies have done over the last month of the season, but there is no better TEAM in college basketball than the Butler Bulldogs. Let's hope that by the end of the night, Stevens and Co. have the hardware to prove it.
 |
| It's Spieler vs. Smith for all the Onions |
 |
| Luckily we won't be watching these two play tonight. |
If you aren't rooting for Butler to win tonight, then you probably rooted for the team from South Bend in Hoosiers, you rooted for Roy Hobbs to strike out in his last at bat, you rooted for Rudy to not get a jersey, you rooted for the Soviet hockey team in the 1980 Olympics, and you probably couldn't see Shoeless Joe and Company playing baseball in a cornfield in Iowa. Get it? Many are saying that UConn is the more talented team and the Huskies should beat Butler. But many of those "experts" said the same about Old Dominion, Pitt, Wisconsin, Florida and VCU when they matched up against the Bulldogs. Does UConn have a more individually talented players...yes. No disrespect to what the Huskies have done over the last month of the season, but there is no better TEAM in college basketball than the Butler Bulldogs. Let's hope that by the end of the night, Stevens and Co. have the hardware to prove it.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Who Wore it Better: Final Four Edition
Daily Onions takes a shot at the always fun US Weekly game, "Who Wore It Better?" Obviously all of our questions will be Final Four related:
- Who Wore it Better: Young Coach: Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart?
- Who Wore it Better: Dirty Coach: John Calipari or Jim Calhoun?
- Who Wore it Better: Tournament Game-winning shots: Brandon Knight or Matt Howard?
- Who Wore It Better: Freshman Making a Difference: Jeremy Lamb or Kentucky's Young'ns?
- Who Wore It Better: Dogs: Bulldogs or Huskies?
- Who Wore It Better: Lamb: Deron (UK) or Jeremy (UConn)
- Who Wore It Better: Potential Uncreative Headline: Butler Did It Again or Yes UConn or Top Cats/Blue Heaven or Insert Shaka/Cinderella/VC-Whew headline?
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Diced Onions: Final Four and then some
I was going to write a much more in-depth post about the Final Four, the teams, the coaches, the upsets, the Madness, etc. Instead the First Lady and I watched Frontline on PBS, and their story about how much money is made during March Madness, and how the athletes saw zero of that. This turned into an hour conversation in the Daily Onions office about whether or not student-athletes should get paid, how they would get paid, why coaches are overpaid, why does the NCAA have such a big yearly budget, jersey sales, video game sales and so on and so on. If you ever thought about banging your head against the wall for an hour, don't do it. Just have a conversation with your significant other about all the things wrong with the NCAA.
The craziest thing is, I don't totally agree with fact that student-athletes don't get compensated for all the money that is being brought in thanks to college athletics. It's tough to come up with an argument for why they aren't, except the fact that the NCAA is about student-athletes, and they don't play students, but instead they are giving students the opportunity to get a free education (which is what the NCAA President said over and over and over...) From the bottom of my heart, I really wish that was true, but it isn't. This is a topic that Daily Onions could talk about for 3 months straight, and I don't even know if we'd come up with a solution or a perfect argument at that point. The First Lady may have summed things up the best by saying this: "You don't have to have a vast knowledge of college sports, to know right from wrong." She is probably right. There is exploitation in college sports (mostly football and basketball), and we all know that. Will the NCAA ever change its rules, probably not....allowing many "fun" conversations between couples down the road.
Enough about that, let's get into some Final Four random thoughts:
-During the season, I thought I wanted to name my first born Jimmer, but now I am thinking it might be Butler. How can you not LOVE the Butler Bulldogs basketball program? We are currently reading the book Underdawgs, which is the story of last year's team's run to the National Championship game. Lots of good tidbits on coach Brad Stevens (Daily Onions crush), the recruitment of Shelvin Mack, Gordon Hayward and Ronald Nored, and more info that we'll probably include in a post in the near future entitled, "Everything I ever needed to know in life, I learned from the Butler Basketball Program." Stay tuned.
-If Shaka Smart was in a lineup next to five other current college point guards, would the untrained eye be able to point out which person was the college coach? Probably not. Throw in how he looked and how he worked the crowd at the pep rally on Sunday night when the teamed returned to campus, Smart could have easily been plugged into the role of emcee at a block party coming to a university near you. Looks aside, we obviously commend the job Shaka has done in the past two weeks. As far as where he'll be next year, we doubt it includes the letters VCU. Our guess is N.C. State. Will he be able to gain some ground on Duke and UNC? Probably not right away, but after how far he's brought VCU in the last two weeks, you never know.
-In case you didn't know, it's "Random Early '90s College Basketball Players Get Head Coaching Jobs" week. First, Cuonzo Martin goes to Tennessee (yes, we know he was a head coach at Mizzou State). We remember Cuonzo as the sidekick to the Big Dog at Purdue back in the early 90s. Then today, THE Monmouth University of New Jersey go and hire Vanderbilt assistant and former UNC Tarheel, King Rice. For those of you that don't remember Rice, we don't blame you. Fortunately, Daily Onions was blessed with a ridiculous and random (and sometimes stupid) memory, so we remember Rice playing along side of Rick Fox and Co. back in the day. No word on whether or not NC State is looking to hire Chris Corchiani for the head job (they aren't, because Chris now works in real estate). If things don't work out with Matt Painer for Missouri, they can always give Anthony Peeler a call (he's actually an assistant at D-2 Virginia Union). Ok, that's enough for now, but plenty of seats still open on the coaching carousel, so more jokes to come.
A few questions to ponder looking ahead to this weekend:
-If UConn wins two games this weekend, capping off an unbelievable month of basketball (11 wins in a row between the Big East and NCAA Tournament), does Jim Calhoun walk away? Close to turning 69 years old, Calhoun's got some suspension time looming next year due to some NCAA violations, as well as some scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions over the next three years. Kemba will be gone after this season, and Jeremy Lamb might not be too far behind, draining the Huskies of their top talents. Why not go out on top now?
-When Daily Onions celebrates its 5th birthday in December of 2015, will Kentucky still have its 2011 NCAA Final Four banner still hanging in Rupp Arena? I think its a legit question considering Coach Cal's track record (even though he didn't know anything). Also, is UK's Josh Harrellson the biggest goon in college basketball since......? I'm not even sure who the last goon in the college game was, but we bet Harrellson will give him a run for his money. As a Daily Onions loyal reader pointed out over the weekend after Harrellson chucked the ball at Jared Sullinger's chest, "O'Doyle Rules!"
-We knew we'd have some bad headlines this week with Butler returning to the Final Four. Creative reporters and editors brushed off "The Butler Did It" and figured out ways to incorporate that into the leads of stories throughout the weekend. Now we get to go to Houston for the Final 4. Spare us the, "Houston, we have a problem" headlines. We know there aren't any 1 or 2 seeds left in the tournament. That's not a problem, and even if it was a problem, that's not a creative headline. Give us something better. And can we stop the potential VCU-UConn matchup leading to Shaka-Conn headlines now? Ok good. Oh, and if Connecticut does win, please keep the "Yes, UConn" headlines to yourself. Thanks.
More Final Four thoughts coming later this week.
The craziest thing is, I don't totally agree with fact that student-athletes don't get compensated for all the money that is being brought in thanks to college athletics. It's tough to come up with an argument for why they aren't, except the fact that the NCAA is about student-athletes, and they don't play students, but instead they are giving students the opportunity to get a free education (which is what the NCAA President said over and over and over...) From the bottom of my heart, I really wish that was true, but it isn't. This is a topic that Daily Onions could talk about for 3 months straight, and I don't even know if we'd come up with a solution or a perfect argument at that point. The First Lady may have summed things up the best by saying this: "You don't have to have a vast knowledge of college sports, to know right from wrong." She is probably right. There is exploitation in college sports (mostly football and basketball), and we all know that. Will the NCAA ever change its rules, probably not....allowing many "fun" conversations between couples down the road.
Enough about that, let's get into some Final Four random thoughts:
-During the season, I thought I wanted to name my first born Jimmer, but now I am thinking it might be Butler. How can you not LOVE the Butler Bulldogs basketball program? We are currently reading the book Underdawgs, which is the story of last year's team's run to the National Championship game. Lots of good tidbits on coach Brad Stevens (Daily Onions crush), the recruitment of Shelvin Mack, Gordon Hayward and Ronald Nored, and more info that we'll probably include in a post in the near future entitled, "Everything I ever needed to know in life, I learned from the Butler Basketball Program." Stay tuned.
-If Shaka Smart was in a lineup next to five other current college point guards, would the untrained eye be able to point out which person was the college coach? Probably not. Throw in how he looked and how he worked the crowd at the pep rally on Sunday night when the teamed returned to campus, Smart could have easily been plugged into the role of emcee at a block party coming to a university near you. Looks aside, we obviously commend the job Shaka has done in the past two weeks. As far as where he'll be next year, we doubt it includes the letters VCU. Our guess is N.C. State. Will he be able to gain some ground on Duke and UNC? Probably not right away, but after how far he's brought VCU in the last two weeks, you never know.
-In case you didn't know, it's "Random Early '90s College Basketball Players Get Head Coaching Jobs" week. First, Cuonzo Martin goes to Tennessee (yes, we know he was a head coach at Mizzou State). We remember Cuonzo as the sidekick to the Big Dog at Purdue back in the early 90s. Then today, THE Monmouth University of New Jersey go and hire Vanderbilt assistant and former UNC Tarheel, King Rice. For those of you that don't remember Rice, we don't blame you. Fortunately, Daily Onions was blessed with a ridiculous and random (and sometimes stupid) memory, so we remember Rice playing along side of Rick Fox and Co. back in the day. No word on whether or not NC State is looking to hire Chris Corchiani for the head job (they aren't, because Chris now works in real estate). If things don't work out with Matt Painer for Missouri, they can always give Anthony Peeler a call (he's actually an assistant at D-2 Virginia Union). Ok, that's enough for now, but plenty of seats still open on the coaching carousel, so more jokes to come.
A few questions to ponder looking ahead to this weekend:
-If UConn wins two games this weekend, capping off an unbelievable month of basketball (11 wins in a row between the Big East and NCAA Tournament), does Jim Calhoun walk away? Close to turning 69 years old, Calhoun's got some suspension time looming next year due to some NCAA violations, as well as some scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions over the next three years. Kemba will be gone after this season, and Jeremy Lamb might not be too far behind, draining the Huskies of their top talents. Why not go out on top now?
-When Daily Onions celebrates its 5th birthday in December of 2015, will Kentucky still have its 2011 NCAA Final Four banner still hanging in Rupp Arena? I think its a legit question considering Coach Cal's track record (even though he didn't know anything). Also, is UK's Josh Harrellson the biggest goon in college basketball since......? I'm not even sure who the last goon in the college game was, but we bet Harrellson will give him a run for his money. As a Daily Onions loyal reader pointed out over the weekend after Harrellson chucked the ball at Jared Sullinger's chest, "O'Doyle Rules!"
-We knew we'd have some bad headlines this week with Butler returning to the Final Four. Creative reporters and editors brushed off "The Butler Did It" and figured out ways to incorporate that into the leads of stories throughout the weekend. Now we get to go to Houston for the Final 4. Spare us the, "Houston, we have a problem" headlines. We know there aren't any 1 or 2 seeds left in the tournament. That's not a problem, and even if it was a problem, that's not a creative headline. Give us something better. And can we stop the potential VCU-UConn matchup leading to Shaka-Conn headlines now? Ok good. Oh, and if Connecticut does win, please keep the "Yes, UConn" headlines to yourself. Thanks.
More Final Four thoughts coming later this week.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
16 Sweet Things To Look Forward To: Part 1
Just 16 teams left standing today, but a few days from now there will only be four. Here is what we are excited about seeing over the next two days, 16 things to be exact. To make sure you don't get Daily Onions-coma, we'll give you eight today and eight tomorrow. In no particular order, eight things to look forward to in tonight's four games.
1. Jimmer: We might have said in no particular order, but Jimmer is always at the top of our lists. In Round 1 he had 32, in Round 2 he had 34, do I hear a 36 for Thursday night against Florida? Bottom line, Jimmer has been a joy to watch this tournament, just as he has been all season long. Hopefully the SI cover jinx won't affect him this week, but either way, this is a pretty sick cover picture. Will Florida be able to contain him? That is the question. In case you don't remember, these two teams met last year in Round 1 of the Tournament...and no, the Gators could not contain Jimmer, as he dropped 37 in the Cougs victory. Expect a pro-Gators crowd down in New Orleans, thanks to its proximity to the Sunshine State. Plus, I'm not sure if BYU students are allowed in the city limits of NOLA.
2. Brad Stevens: If Jimmer is our favorite player, then Brad Stevens is by far our favorite coach. Is it a coincidence that Daily Onions was born the day after we spent a night watching Stevens in person against Loyola back in early December? Probably not. We complimented Stevens in our first post for his sideline demeanor and the way he interacted with his players. That rang true once again on Saturday night at the end of the Butler-Pitt game. With such a bizarre ending, Stevens was calm, cool and collected (we'll call him the anti-Mike Rice), which trickles down to his players. You can tell his guys love playing for him, and there are plenty of top high school recruits out there that will as well. The real question becomes, when does he leave Butler? We don't think he leaves for any of the openings now (Tennessee, Oklahoma, NC State, Mizzou), but instead waits for his dream job -whatever that might be - We are thinking textbook, traditional college basketball programs like a Duke or an Indiana, etc. With those two schools well off with their current coaches, Coach K and Tom Crean (another Daily Onions favorite), maybe Stevens will indeed stay at Butler for years to come, and bring the Bulldogs to a perennial top 10 team, all while staying cool, calm and collected.
3. Fab 5 Revisited: Two weeks ago we had the Fab 5 documentary air on ESPN, last week we had Duke squeak by Michigan, and if all goes well Thursday night, we could have Steve Fisher and Coach K meet in the Elite 8 with a trip to Final 4 on the line. Talk about things coming full-circle. The NCAA Selection Committee may have screwed up a lot of seeding in this year's tournament, but they have helped Jalen Rose and Co. in keeping the Duke-Michigan/Fab 5 era story lines going throughout the tournament.
4. Kyrie: There was no question that Duke was the best basketball team in the country this season when Kyrie Irving was healthy. A freak toe injury caused him to miss the majority of the season, and he saw his first action since mid-December in Duke's opening round games. His only made FG on Sunday proved to be the game winner against Michigan. Now he's had another few days of practice and should have his "sea-legs" back for Thursday's game. We don't think Kyrie will be back to 100% quite yet, but he should be better than he was last weekend, which makes Duke that much tougher.
5. In the Zona: If you haven't seen Derrick Williams play yet this season, (a) what have you been doing all year? and (b) tune into tonight. The 6-8, 241 lb sophomore is one heck of an athlete. His 3-point play won the game for the Wildcats on Sunday, while his blocked shot against Memphis saved the day in Round 1. What is he going to do for an encore....walk on water?
6. Zebras: How do you like your officials, one's with with a quick five count and a quick whistle, or ones that don't know the correct back court violation rules? Regardless, unfortunately refs were taking quite a lot of heat after the first weekend of the tournament. Throw-in the debacle at the Big East tournament and it hasn't quite been the officials' month. It should be interesting to see if there are any noticeable differences in this round's games - officials calling things a little tighter/looser, possibly a few more end of games conferences/reviews with the other officials on the court to make sure they got it "right". In any case, let's hope head of officials, John Adams isn't prominently featured in the studio shows like he was last weekend.
7: Bo Knows: We know that Bo Ryan knows where the best place to vacation/retire is, the beaches of....NEW JERRRRRSEY. He also knows a thing or two about Midwest basketball. Before coming to Madison, Ryan was the coach of Milwaukee, and before that he was the coach of UW-Platteville. We'll see just how much Bo knows about Midwest basketball when he has to deal with the Butler Bulldogs. This game probably won't be the track meet that UNC vs. Washington was, instead it will be closer to the Wisconsin-Penn State Big Ten tournament game that had a combined 70 points. Wisconsin may be favored by 5 points, but Butler has figured out a way to win games in March, both this year and last. The Duke-Arizona game might be the more exciting later game, but make sure your you have you eye on Butler-Wisconsin down the stretch.
8: Huskies Run: Saw this interesting stat that means absolutely nothing on the Twitter Machine about UConn. The Huskies are 0-7 since 1992 in NCAA games held in their opponent's state. For the geography majors (from UConn), San Diego is in California, as is Anaheim, where Thursday night's game will be held. That stat aside, can UConn's magical March run continue? The Fighting Kemba's won five games in five days to capture the Big East Tournament Championship, they dismantled Bucknell, and then sent Cincinnati home. Thursday night they'll be in unchartered waters, taking on San Diego State in their backyard. Let's see how the cross country flight and "road game" works out for the dogs this time around.
Happy watching and we'll see you tomorrow with eight more sweet things for Friday night's game.
1. Jimmer: We might have said in no particular order, but Jimmer is always at the top of our lists. In Round 1 he had 32, in Round 2 he had 34, do I hear a 36 for Thursday night against Florida? Bottom line, Jimmer has been a joy to watch this tournament, just as he has been all season long. Hopefully the SI cover jinx won't affect him this week, but either way, this is a pretty sick cover picture. Will Florida be able to contain him? That is the question. In case you don't remember, these two teams met last year in Round 1 of the Tournament...and no, the Gators could not contain Jimmer, as he dropped 37 in the Cougs victory. Expect a pro-Gators crowd down in New Orleans, thanks to its proximity to the Sunshine State. Plus, I'm not sure if BYU students are allowed in the city limits of NOLA.
2. Brad Stevens: If Jimmer is our favorite player, then Brad Stevens is by far our favorite coach. Is it a coincidence that Daily Onions was born the day after we spent a night watching Stevens in person against Loyola back in early December? Probably not. We complimented Stevens in our first post for his sideline demeanor and the way he interacted with his players. That rang true once again on Saturday night at the end of the Butler-Pitt game. With such a bizarre ending, Stevens was calm, cool and collected (we'll call him the anti-Mike Rice), which trickles down to his players. You can tell his guys love playing for him, and there are plenty of top high school recruits out there that will as well. The real question becomes, when does he leave Butler? We don't think he leaves for any of the openings now (Tennessee, Oklahoma, NC State, Mizzou), but instead waits for his dream job -whatever that might be - We are thinking textbook, traditional college basketball programs like a Duke or an Indiana, etc. With those two schools well off with their current coaches, Coach K and Tom Crean (another Daily Onions favorite), maybe Stevens will indeed stay at Butler for years to come, and bring the Bulldogs to a perennial top 10 team, all while staying cool, calm and collected.
3. Fab 5 Revisited: Two weeks ago we had the Fab 5 documentary air on ESPN, last week we had Duke squeak by Michigan, and if all goes well Thursday night, we could have Steve Fisher and Coach K meet in the Elite 8 with a trip to Final 4 on the line. Talk about things coming full-circle. The NCAA Selection Committee may have screwed up a lot of seeding in this year's tournament, but they have helped Jalen Rose and Co. in keeping the Duke-Michigan/Fab 5 era story lines going throughout the tournament.
4. Kyrie: There was no question that Duke was the best basketball team in the country this season when Kyrie Irving was healthy. A freak toe injury caused him to miss the majority of the season, and he saw his first action since mid-December in Duke's opening round games. His only made FG on Sunday proved to be the game winner against Michigan. Now he's had another few days of practice and should have his "sea-legs" back for Thursday's game. We don't think Kyrie will be back to 100% quite yet, but he should be better than he was last weekend, which makes Duke that much tougher.
5. In the Zona: If you haven't seen Derrick Williams play yet this season, (a) what have you been doing all year? and (b) tune into tonight. The 6-8, 241 lb sophomore is one heck of an athlete. His 3-point play won the game for the Wildcats on Sunday, while his blocked shot against Memphis saved the day in Round 1. What is he going to do for an encore....walk on water?
6. Zebras: How do you like your officials, one's with with a quick five count and a quick whistle, or ones that don't know the correct back court violation rules? Regardless, unfortunately refs were taking quite a lot of heat after the first weekend of the tournament. Throw-in the debacle at the Big East tournament and it hasn't quite been the officials' month. It should be interesting to see if there are any noticeable differences in this round's games - officials calling things a little tighter/looser, possibly a few more end of games conferences/reviews with the other officials on the court to make sure they got it "right". In any case, let's hope head of officials, John Adams isn't prominently featured in the studio shows like he was last weekend.
7: Bo Knows: We know that Bo Ryan knows where the best place to vacation/retire is, the beaches of....NEW JERRRRRSEY. He also knows a thing or two about Midwest basketball. Before coming to Madison, Ryan was the coach of Milwaukee, and before that he was the coach of UW-Platteville. We'll see just how much Bo knows about Midwest basketball when he has to deal with the Butler Bulldogs. This game probably won't be the track meet that UNC vs. Washington was, instead it will be closer to the Wisconsin-Penn State Big Ten tournament game that had a combined 70 points. Wisconsin may be favored by 5 points, but Butler has figured out a way to win games in March, both this year and last. The Duke-Arizona game might be the more exciting later game, but make sure your you have you eye on Butler-Wisconsin down the stretch.
8: Huskies Run: Saw this interesting stat that means absolutely nothing on the Twitter Machine about UConn. The Huskies are 0-7 since 1992 in NCAA games held in their opponent's state. For the geography majors (from UConn), San Diego is in California, as is Anaheim, where Thursday night's game will be held. That stat aside, can UConn's magical March run continue? The Fighting Kemba's won five games in five days to capture the Big East Tournament Championship, they dismantled Bucknell, and then sent Cincinnati home. Thursday night they'll be in unchartered waters, taking on San Diego State in their backyard. Let's see how the cross country flight and "road game" works out for the dogs this time around.
Happy watching and we'll see you tomorrow with eight more sweet things for Friday night's game.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Day 3 of the Madness: Party Foul
There were eight games on the schedule yesterday and the majority of them did not disappoint. We'll start with the games that weren't as close, and work our way to one of the most bizarre finishes in college basketball tournament history.
Teach Me How To Jimmer: We are betting that there are going to be a lot of babies named Jimmer popping up in about 9 months. The Cougs are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1981 after having no problems with Gonzaga, winning 89-67. Jimmer dropped 34, which means he is averaging a healthy 33 ppg so far this tournament. Now the Cougs will face Florida (who took out UCLA 73-65), in New Orleans. Make sure you brush up on that Honor Code boys.
Kentucky Split: The young Wildcats were able to avenge the school's loss to West Virginia in last year's tournament, beating the Mountaineers 71-63. The problem that hurt the 'Eers all year long was true once again on Saturday - no go-to, crunch time scorer. We miss you Da'Sean Butler. The other Kentucky squad still playing wasn't as lucky, as Morehead St.'s season came to an end at the hands of Richmond. The Spiders, the #12 seed in the Southwest, now await the winner of Kansas-Illinois.
Aztecs, Huskies and Badgers, Oh my: The Fighting Dunphies gave #2 San Diego State all they could handle yesterday, as the Aztecs eeked out a 7 point win in double overtime over Temple. SDSU now faces Kemba and the Huskies in the Sweet 16. UConn disposed of fellow Big East member, Cincinnati. SDSU has a slight advantage, as the game will be played in Anaheim. Meanwhile, Bo Ryan isn't quite ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet. His Wisconsin Badgers ended Jacob Pullen's college career, despite the Beard putting up 38 points. Coach Frank Martin's scowl took over the final few seconds of the game, as he didn't look too pleased with a few of his player's non-execution of a final play - that seemed to be NOT drawn up for Pullen.
Doin' the But: On Thursday, Butler won their game with a put back basket by Matt Howard as time expired. On Saturday, as the Bulldogs took on #1 Pitt, it was the final seconds that once again dictated who won the game. In what was one of the most bizarre endings ever, Butler took the lead with 2 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Gilbert Brown was fouled by Shelvin Mack (it was the right call). Brown at the free throw line, shooting 2, down 1, with .9 seconds left. He makes the first. Tie game. The second, clanks off the iron and Howard pulls down the board. For some reason, Pitt's Nasir Robinson fouls (it was the right call) Howard with .2 seconds left. Howard makes the first, misses the second on purpose, Butler is back in the Sweet 16 and Pitt is back to the Steel City early, once again.
Daily Onions, who normally is in the camp of "let them play" when it comes to officiating, completely agrees with both of the calls made at the end of the game. Officials you are off the hook. The way Pitt handled the late game situation is a teachable moment for basketball players and coaches of all ages. With .9 seconds left, and a tie game, why even risk the possibility for a foul on the rebound. I don't have a problem with Jamie Dixon keeping players on the lane, as this gives Brown a more "normal" look at the foul line (if normal exists at this situation in the game). But you need to be 100% clear with your players to not commit a foul on the potential miss (as Gilbert Brown said after the game - all I needed to do was make the 2nd shot and we wouldn't be having this conversation). Robinson also admitted that is was an awful mistake and that he's been playing basketball for way too long to know better than that. Robinson's foul didn't even look accidental, as he clearly grabbed and hung on to Howard's arm. A bizzare mental lapse by Robinson. It's unfortunate that the game had to end under these circumstances. Mack is lucky he is off the hook for his last second mistake. Unfortunately for Brown and Robinson, this one is going to sting for a while.
Teach Me How To Jimmer: We are betting that there are going to be a lot of babies named Jimmer popping up in about 9 months. The Cougs are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1981 after having no problems with Gonzaga, winning 89-67. Jimmer dropped 34, which means he is averaging a healthy 33 ppg so far this tournament. Now the Cougs will face Florida (who took out UCLA 73-65), in New Orleans. Make sure you brush up on that Honor Code boys.
Kentucky Split: The young Wildcats were able to avenge the school's loss to West Virginia in last year's tournament, beating the Mountaineers 71-63. The problem that hurt the 'Eers all year long was true once again on Saturday - no go-to, crunch time scorer. We miss you Da'Sean Butler. The other Kentucky squad still playing wasn't as lucky, as Morehead St.'s season came to an end at the hands of Richmond. The Spiders, the #12 seed in the Southwest, now await the winner of Kansas-Illinois.
Aztecs, Huskies and Badgers, Oh my: The Fighting Dunphies gave #2 San Diego State all they could handle yesterday, as the Aztecs eeked out a 7 point win in double overtime over Temple. SDSU now faces Kemba and the Huskies in the Sweet 16. UConn disposed of fellow Big East member, Cincinnati. SDSU has a slight advantage, as the game will be played in Anaheim. Meanwhile, Bo Ryan isn't quite ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet. His Wisconsin Badgers ended Jacob Pullen's college career, despite the Beard putting up 38 points. Coach Frank Martin's scowl took over the final few seconds of the game, as he didn't look too pleased with a few of his player's non-execution of a final play - that seemed to be NOT drawn up for Pullen.
Doin' the But: On Thursday, Butler won their game with a put back basket by Matt Howard as time expired. On Saturday, as the Bulldogs took on #1 Pitt, it was the final seconds that once again dictated who won the game. In what was one of the most bizarre endings ever, Butler took the lead with 2 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Gilbert Brown was fouled by Shelvin Mack (it was the right call). Brown at the free throw line, shooting 2, down 1, with .9 seconds left. He makes the first. Tie game. The second, clanks off the iron and Howard pulls down the board. For some reason, Pitt's Nasir Robinson fouls (it was the right call) Howard with .2 seconds left. Howard makes the first, misses the second on purpose, Butler is back in the Sweet 16 and Pitt is back to the Steel City early, once again.
Daily Onions, who normally is in the camp of "let them play" when it comes to officiating, completely agrees with both of the calls made at the end of the game. Officials you are off the hook. The way Pitt handled the late game situation is a teachable moment for basketball players and coaches of all ages. With .9 seconds left, and a tie game, why even risk the possibility for a foul on the rebound. I don't have a problem with Jamie Dixon keeping players on the lane, as this gives Brown a more "normal" look at the foul line (if normal exists at this situation in the game). But you need to be 100% clear with your players to not commit a foul on the potential miss (as Gilbert Brown said after the game - all I needed to do was make the 2nd shot and we wouldn't be having this conversation). Robinson also admitted that is was an awful mistake and that he's been playing basketball for way too long to know better than that. Robinson's foul didn't even look accidental, as he clearly grabbed and hung on to Howard's arm. A bizzare mental lapse by Robinson. It's unfortunate that the game had to end under these circumstances. Mack is lucky he is off the hook for his last second mistake. Unfortunately for Brown and Robinson, this one is going to sting for a while.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Day 1 of The Madness: Best Afternoon Ever?
As long as you weren't stuck in a hole yesterday for the first four hours of the tournament, you know it was arguably one of, if not the, best start to the tournament ever. Of the first five games, four of them were decided in the final 5 seconds, and had a score differential of two points or less.
First, it was the Butler doing it, making sure they weren't going home after Round 1, with their right place, right time put back by Matt Howard as time expired. Bulldogs 60 - ODU 58. Then it was Morehead taking down Rick Pitino (low blow? whoops, nevermind), with a 3 pointer in the final seconds to win 62-61. Best part of this game....we had our first "ONIONS" call from Raftery, and boy was it a good one.This was also the first game where people started ripping up their brackets.
In the battle for Pennsylvania bragging rights, Temple nails a step through jumper with .4 seconds left, to make sure that Penn State remains only a football school. Then, we all hoped that the Princeton Fundamentals would take down Kentucky. With the game tied and 3 seconds left, freshman Brandon Knight made his first bucket of the game, giving the Wildcats a win. Definition survive and advance. One more close game in the afternoon session saw the Spiders of Richmond taking down Vanderbilt. 12 - 5 upset anyone?
To the night games we go, Florida, UConn and BYU take care of business as expected. Jimmer goes off for 32 points, as expected. Belmont hung around with Wisconsin for half of the game, but the Badgers eventually pulled away to win by 14.
In the 6-11 games with Big East teams, it was a split. Cincy sent Mizzou home with a convincing win, and as predicted in this space, the experience of Gonzaga was too much for the upstart Johnnies. We did whiff on the Utah State-K-State game, as well as the UCLA-Michigan State game, although the Bruins did everything possible to try and blow a 23-point lead.
A couple of games we are looking forward to on Saturday: Huggins vs. Calipari and the youth/athleticism of Kentucky against the grind it out physicality of WVU. We'll have a Big East match up of UConn and Cincy, and an upset special with #13 Morehead St. and #12 Richmond. Last but not least, we have Butler taking on Pitt. Bulldogs find ways to win games in March, but will they be able to continue that streak against the physical Panthers.
Show Us Your Onions Update: Thanks to the 30+ entries that we received for the first annual competition. At first glance, we have a few folks that lost some of their onions with the Michigan State and Louisville losses. A complete breakdown of all the Onions will come later in the weekend, so you can see who you are matched up against.
Daily Onions is headed to watch some hoops live and in person today in Chicago. This will mark the first time we've been to an NCAA Tournament game since 2003, when....you know, a certain team cut down the nets in New Orleans. Onions!
First, it was the Butler doing it, making sure they weren't going home after Round 1, with their right place, right time put back by Matt Howard as time expired. Bulldogs 60 - ODU 58. Then it was Morehead taking down Rick Pitino (low blow? whoops, nevermind), with a 3 pointer in the final seconds to win 62-61. Best part of this game....we had our first "ONIONS" call from Raftery, and boy was it a good one.This was also the first game where people started ripping up their brackets.
In the battle for Pennsylvania bragging rights, Temple nails a step through jumper with .4 seconds left, to make sure that Penn State remains only a football school. Then, we all hoped that the Princeton Fundamentals would take down Kentucky. With the game tied and 3 seconds left, freshman Brandon Knight made his first bucket of the game, giving the Wildcats a win. Definition survive and advance. One more close game in the afternoon session saw the Spiders of Richmond taking down Vanderbilt. 12 - 5 upset anyone?
To the night games we go, Florida, UConn and BYU take care of business as expected. Jimmer goes off for 32 points, as expected. Belmont hung around with Wisconsin for half of the game, but the Badgers eventually pulled away to win by 14.
In the 6-11 games with Big East teams, it was a split. Cincy sent Mizzou home with a convincing win, and as predicted in this space, the experience of Gonzaga was too much for the upstart Johnnies. We did whiff on the Utah State-K-State game, as well as the UCLA-Michigan State game, although the Bruins did everything possible to try and blow a 23-point lead.
A couple of games we are looking forward to on Saturday: Huggins vs. Calipari and the youth/athleticism of Kentucky against the grind it out physicality of WVU. We'll have a Big East match up of UConn and Cincy, and an upset special with #13 Morehead St. and #12 Richmond. Last but not least, we have Butler taking on Pitt. Bulldogs find ways to win games in March, but will they be able to continue that streak against the physical Panthers.
Show Us Your Onions Update: Thanks to the 30+ entries that we received for the first annual competition. At first glance, we have a few folks that lost some of their onions with the Michigan State and Louisville losses. A complete breakdown of all the Onions will come later in the weekend, so you can see who you are matched up against.
Daily Onions is headed to watch some hoops live and in person today in Chicago. This will mark the first time we've been to an NCAA Tournament game since 2003, when....you know, a certain team cut down the nets in New Orleans. Onions!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Big Easy: Southeast Region
Daily Onions gets a double word score for today's title, since the Southeast Regional final will be held in New Orleans, and it seems to be the simplest road to the Final Four for the top seeds. Here's our in-depth analysis of this region, with who we think will be headed to Houston in two and half weeks.
Toughest First Round Match up: #8 Butler vs. #9 Old Dominion. If these two teams were playing anyone else, I'd bet that most people would have them both advancing. A battle of two of the best mid-majors in the country, Butler struggled for most of the season but put things together down the stretch and ended up winning the Horizon League. Old Dominion has won 14 of their last 15 games, and has stacked up SIX wins against this year's tournament field. As much as we hate to say it, Daily Onions is leaning ODU here.
Most Historical Matchup: #7 UCLA vs. #10 Michigan State. We've discussed Michigan State's problems all year long. It is March though, do you pick against them? Regardless of who wins this game, we think they'll be sent home by #2 Florida in Round 2. If it ends up being Florida and Michigan State, it will be a rematch of the 2000 Finals, in which the Spartans won.
Upset Special x 3: #11 Gonzaga (vs. #6 St. John's), #12 Utah State (vs. #5 Kansas State) and #13 Belmont (vs. #4 Wisconsin) are all higher seeds that could be trendy upset picks in this bracket. St. John's will be short-handed after losing DJ Kennedy in the Big East tournament, while Gonzaga is tournament tough, making their 87th straight Big Dance (13th, actually). Utah State has been ranked in the top 25 this year, won 30 games and has an RPI of 15. When they were announced as a 12 seed, they did not look happy about that. Might be leaning that way, instead of going with a hot and cold K-State team. We think Wisconsin, who is coming off a loss to Penn State in which they scored 33 points, will bounce back and take care of Belmont. Bo Ryan isn't ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet.
What Happens? We are going to go with Pittsburgh meeting Florida (who will end Jimmer Mania in the Sweet 16) in the Regional Final. Yes, we know that's very chalk-y, but get used to it. Game being played in New Orleans, Florida has the advantage and Pitt goes home w/o a trip to the Final Four once again.
Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!
Toughest First Round Match up: #8 Butler vs. #9 Old Dominion. If these two teams were playing anyone else, I'd bet that most people would have them both advancing. A battle of two of the best mid-majors in the country, Butler struggled for most of the season but put things together down the stretch and ended up winning the Horizon League. Old Dominion has won 14 of their last 15 games, and has stacked up SIX wins against this year's tournament field. As much as we hate to say it, Daily Onions is leaning ODU here.
Most Historical Matchup: #7 UCLA vs. #10 Michigan State. We've discussed Michigan State's problems all year long. It is March though, do you pick against them? Regardless of who wins this game, we think they'll be sent home by #2 Florida in Round 2. If it ends up being Florida and Michigan State, it will be a rematch of the 2000 Finals, in which the Spartans won.
Upset Special x 3: #11 Gonzaga (vs. #6 St. John's), #12 Utah State (vs. #5 Kansas State) and #13 Belmont (vs. #4 Wisconsin) are all higher seeds that could be trendy upset picks in this bracket. St. John's will be short-handed after losing DJ Kennedy in the Big East tournament, while Gonzaga is tournament tough, making their 87th straight Big Dance (13th, actually). Utah State has been ranked in the top 25 this year, won 30 games and has an RPI of 15. When they were announced as a 12 seed, they did not look happy about that. Might be leaning that way, instead of going with a hot and cold K-State team. We think Wisconsin, who is coming off a loss to Penn State in which they scored 33 points, will bounce back and take care of Belmont. Bo Ryan isn't ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet.
What Happens? We are going to go with Pittsburgh meeting Florida (who will end Jimmer Mania in the Sweet 16) in the Regional Final. Yes, we know that's very chalk-y, but get used to it. Game being played in New Orleans, Florida has the advantage and Pitt goes home w/o a trip to the Final Four once again.
Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Winning, Duh
That is the answer. The question is not what is Charlie Sheen's favorite saying of the past few days, but instead, what is the most important thing college hoops teams should be doing at this time of year? Yesterday we chronicled a few teams that were slipping and today we'll look at a few teams that might just be peaking at the right time, ready to make a run in their conference tournaments and the Big Dance. As always, we start w/ the Big East.
-St. John's: Call me crazy, but shouldn't Steve Lavin be the unanimous pick for Big East Coach of the Year? Not all experts at ESPN agree, as Mike Brey, Jamie Dixon and Rick Pitino got votes in the websites mock awards selection yesterday. What do Brey, Dixon and Pitino all have in common? Their teams all made the tournament last year and they've been perennial contenders in the Big East. The Johnnies on the other hand haven't been relevant since Marcus Hatton (throw back to 2002 days!). Lavin comes in, takes players that Norm Roberts recruited, and has them ranked #15 in the country, 19-9 overall and in line for a double-bye in the Big East tournament. Give Lavin the trophy now, and we thank you for making college hoops important in NYC again.
-Notre Dame: As much as it pains me to say this, I feel like I might have the Irish making a little run in the tournament. I mean who really wants to root for Notre Dame?? Actually, this isn't football so it isn't THAT bad. Why do we like ND so much, two words: Senior Leadership. Top five scorers on the squad, all seniors. They play hard, they play together, they share the ball (13th in the country in assists) and they have at least two players that can knock down the big shot (Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromitis). Oh, and they've also won 10 of their last 11 in the best conference in the country. Mike Brey's mock turtlenecks aside, how can you not like this team just a little bit?
-Purdue: Winners of their last seven games, the Boilermakers should end up as the #2 seed in the Big Ten Conference Tournament, behind THE Ohio State University, whom they beat just two weeks ago. If you don't enjoy watching JaJuan Johnson play, you should stop watching basketball. The kid is a freak. In their 20 point blow out win AT Michigan State on Sunday, Johnson went for 20 points, 17 rebounds and a cool 7 blocks. Throw in a little side of E'Twaun Moore, who had 38 of the team's 76 points in the W over OSU, and know what you have....winning!
-Kansas State: Daily Onions would like to officially welcome Frank Martin and the Wildcats back to this year's college basketball season. Since Valentine's Day, K-State has gone 5-0, including wins over #1 Kansas and at #8 Texas. Quite the turnaround for a team that started conference play at 2-5. Their inconsistency at the beginning of the year still scares us a bit, but you can't knock the hustle in the last few weeks.
-Butler: Look at that, it's all of Daily Onions beginning of the season favorites. Good to see you Coach Stevens, and the rest of the Bulldogs. Winners of their last seven games, last year's runner-up is putting themselves in position to make the tournament, which seemed unlikely in January. They still have some work to do, but if they can get to the finals of the Horizon League Tournament, win or lose they should get a bid to dance once again. Regardless of what type of season they've had, you never want to see Butler in your region come March.
In our next post, we'll take a look at the previous 24 hours at third-ranked BYU. First the loss of Brendan Davies due to violating the school's Honor Code, and then the blow out loss at home last night to New Mexico. Poor Jimmer.
-St. John's: Call me crazy, but shouldn't Steve Lavin be the unanimous pick for Big East Coach of the Year? Not all experts at ESPN agree, as Mike Brey, Jamie Dixon and Rick Pitino got votes in the websites mock awards selection yesterday. What do Brey, Dixon and Pitino all have in common? Their teams all made the tournament last year and they've been perennial contenders in the Big East. The Johnnies on the other hand haven't been relevant since Marcus Hatton (throw back to 2002 days!). Lavin comes in, takes players that Norm Roberts recruited, and has them ranked #15 in the country, 19-9 overall and in line for a double-bye in the Big East tournament. Give Lavin the trophy now, and we thank you for making college hoops important in NYC again.
 |
| Winning in March runs in the Hansbrough Family |
-Purdue: Winners of their last seven games, the Boilermakers should end up as the #2 seed in the Big Ten Conference Tournament, behind THE Ohio State University, whom they beat just two weeks ago. If you don't enjoy watching JaJuan Johnson play, you should stop watching basketball. The kid is a freak. In their 20 point blow out win AT Michigan State on Sunday, Johnson went for 20 points, 17 rebounds and a cool 7 blocks. Throw in a little side of E'Twaun Moore, who had 38 of the team's 76 points in the W over OSU, and know what you have....winning!
-Kansas State: Daily Onions would like to officially welcome Frank Martin and the Wildcats back to this year's college basketball season. Since Valentine's Day, K-State has gone 5-0, including wins over #1 Kansas and at #8 Texas. Quite the turnaround for a team that started conference play at 2-5. Their inconsistency at the beginning of the year still scares us a bit, but you can't knock the hustle in the last few weeks.
-Butler: Look at that, it's all of Daily Onions beginning of the season favorites. Good to see you Coach Stevens, and the rest of the Bulldogs. Winners of their last seven games, last year's runner-up is putting themselves in position to make the tournament, which seemed unlikely in January. They still have some work to do, but if they can get to the finals of the Horizon League Tournament, win or lose they should get a bid to dance once again. Regardless of what type of season they've had, you never want to see Butler in your region come March.
In our next post, we'll take a look at the previous 24 hours at third-ranked BYU. First the loss of Brendan Davies due to violating the school's Honor Code, and then the blow out loss at home last night to New Mexico. Poor Jimmer.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Insert "Butler/Game of Clue" Joke here
"The Butler did it!" Can we figure out how many times that phrase (or something along those lines) was said, written, tweeted, texted, etc last March, during the Bulldogs run to the National Championship game? I'll admit, I did it a few times.
As a self-proclaimed "old-school" basketball person, I was one of the many that enjoyed watching Butler play - not just for the Cinderella story - but because of the way they played the game - fundamentally sound, disciplined, played hard, played smart, and looked like they were genuinely having a blast. A lot of that had to do with Brad Stevens, who we'll get to in a second.
I had the opportunity to see the Bulldogs in person last night - as they opened their Horizon League schedule against Loyola University in Chicago. Sitting three rows from the court at the Gentile Center (basically a juiced up glorified high school gym - with video boards, lights out for starting line-ups and some portable fog machines - so actually, not too bad of a place to see a D1 basketball game).
A few thoughts on Butler, who sneaked out 2-point win:
-This isn't your Gordon Hayward's Butler Team. As expected, Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack do much of the heavy lifting for Butler...and at this point of the season, Butler goes as they go. They have a ways to go to get back to where they were last year. Playing Duke in a rematch of the Nat'l Championship game in a few days should be a rough go-round. Wouldn't be surprised if Duke won by 25 (reverse psychology - hope Butler can keep it close).
-They definitely missed starting PG Ronald Nored, who has been out w/ post-concussion injuries. They still went 8-9 deep, which should help as the season plays on.
-Was impressed with Zach Hahn -an undersized guard- who drained a couple of threes down the stretch to hold off Loyola's numerous runs.
-I recognized Pete Myers in the crowd, a Bulls scout, who was most likely there to check out Mack.
-Khyle Marshall has huge "upside potential". Athletic as heck (as seen in his alley-oop dunk - the only dunk of the game), agressive, a little raw, but looked like he had a decent touch around the rim. Hope to see more of him as the season goes on.
If you don't like Brad Stevens, you shouldn't like basketball. Probably my new favorite coach in the college game. Great watching him in person on the sideline. Extremely calm, and positive with his players - even when things didn't go their way. He never seemed to get flustered. I know Butler locked him up for 12 years (seriously), but I really hope he does stay there for a while. After seeing the facilities (or lack of) on ESPN's All-Access for Butler, it'd be a pretty cool story if Stevens could build that program to a perennial contender at the national level. If not, at least they'll always be that sneaky team come March...and hey, we'll always have "The Butler" jokes.
As a self-proclaimed "old-school" basketball person, I was one of the many that enjoyed watching Butler play - not just for the Cinderella story - but because of the way they played the game - fundamentally sound, disciplined, played hard, played smart, and looked like they were genuinely having a blast. A lot of that had to do with Brad Stevens, who we'll get to in a second.
 |
| Brad Stevens, one of Daily Onions favorite college coaches. (Photo courtesy of Associated Press) |
A few thoughts on Butler, who sneaked out 2-point win:
-This isn't your Gordon Hayward's Butler Team. As expected, Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack do much of the heavy lifting for Butler...and at this point of the season, Butler goes as they go. They have a ways to go to get back to where they were last year. Playing Duke in a rematch of the Nat'l Championship game in a few days should be a rough go-round. Wouldn't be surprised if Duke won by 25 (reverse psychology - hope Butler can keep it close).
-They definitely missed starting PG Ronald Nored, who has been out w/ post-concussion injuries. They still went 8-9 deep, which should help as the season plays on.
-Was impressed with Zach Hahn -an undersized guard- who drained a couple of threes down the stretch to hold off Loyola's numerous runs.
-I recognized Pete Myers in the crowd, a Bulls scout, who was most likely there to check out Mack.
-Khyle Marshall has huge "upside potential". Athletic as heck (as seen in his alley-oop dunk - the only dunk of the game), agressive, a little raw, but looked like he had a decent touch around the rim. Hope to see more of him as the season goes on.
If you don't like Brad Stevens, you shouldn't like basketball. Probably my new favorite coach in the college game. Great watching him in person on the sideline. Extremely calm, and positive with his players - even when things didn't go their way. He never seemed to get flustered. I know Butler locked him up for 12 years (seriously), but I really hope he does stay there for a while. After seeing the facilities (or lack of) on ESPN's All-Access for Butler, it'd be a pretty cool story if Stevens could build that program to a perennial contender at the national level. If not, at least they'll always be that sneaky team come March...and hey, we'll always have "The Butler" jokes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)