Ladies and Gentlemen, you have just witnessed history.
With Kansas and Memphis joining North Carolina and UCLA in the Final Four with wins today, the 2008 NCAA Tourney will now go down as the first time that all four #1 seeds won their respective Regionals and advanced to the Final Four.
Here's how it all shook out:
MIDWEST REGION
#1 Kansas over #10 Davidson, 59-57
Cinderella's clock struck midnight for Davidson and sensational sophomore G Stephen Curry, as PG Jason Richards' 3-pointer at the buzzer was wide left...after Curry could not get off a shot thanks to Kansas' swarming defensive strategy.
Coming into the game, Curry was the talk of the tournament...and for good reason. His 34.3 ppg average was the highest for the first three games of the Tournament in 18 years (Bo Kimble averaged 35.8 ppg in 1990). But Kansas has arguably the best defensive backcourt in the country, between G Russell Robinson, who matched up on him for most of the game, G Mario Chalmers, G Sherron Collins, and G-F Brandon Rush. The Jayhawks also have athletic big men in F Darrell Arthur and F Darnell Jackson who were able to switch onto Curry in pick-and-roll situations and not allow him to get any daylight to get his silky-smooth shot up.
Combine all that, and the fact that Curry missed contested shots he was hitting in the first three rounds (everybody has to cool down sometime), and you get Curry's subpar line for the night:
25 pts on 9-25 FG, including 4-16 from the arc, 4 reb, 3 asst
While 25 points against a tough KU defense is nothing to scoff at, Curry's 1.00 point-per-shot average is a number any team will live with...and a number Davidson usually cannot.
On their offensive end, Kansas did what they have done all year...use their balance to win. Chalmers scored 13 points, 11 coming in a 4:00 period in the 1st half to keep Kansas in the game; C Sasha Kaun scored 13 points off the bench on 6-6 FG, and Rush scored 12 and pulled down 7 rebounds.
Davidson could not become the first #10 seed to make the Final Four in NCAA History. But the news wasn't all bad for Wildcat fans on the day...
In Davidson's Sweet 16 game against Wisconsin, Lebron James could be seen just a few rows behind the Wildcat bench, standing up and cheering every one of Curry's remarkable shots, possibly thinking, "Hey, I wouldn't mind passing it to that kid next year."
Well Lebron, you're just gonna have to wait.
EAST REGION
#1 North Carolina over #3 Louisville, 83-73
Kansas' reward for doing what Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Wisconsin could not: A date with #1 overall seed North Carolina in the Final Four, as the Tar Heels dispatched of Louisville Saturday night, 83-73.
Much like the Jayhawks, UNC has about 5 players that can lead them in scoring on any given night. Unlike the Jayhawks, Carolina does have a go-to guy...in All-American F Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough had been solid in the the Heels first three Tourney games, averaging 19 point an 8 rebounds (slightly under his season averages of 23 and 10). But the ACC Player of the Year carried the Heels down the stretch in this game, and showed why he is a strong candidate for National Player of the Year consideration. The line:
28 pts, 12-17 FG, 13 reb in 38 minutes
Normally, Hansbrough does all his work underneath basket, retrieving every loose ball and converting every "And-1" opportunity he can get. But late in the game against the Cardinals, Hansbrough hit three 18-foot jumpers, one with two defenders in his face and the shot clock at 2, that was a dagger to Louisville's upset bid. The Cardinals actually tied the game up at 59-59 with 10:00 to play, but Hansbrough proceeded to outscore the entire Louisville squad, 12-7, over the next 8 minutes...and the Cardinals were sent packing.
'Psycho T' didn't do all the work however, as the Heels advanced to San Antonio on the strength of a very balanced attack. G Wayne Ellington scored 13 points, G Ty Lawson had 11, F Deon Thompson had 10, and G-F Danny Green had 11 off the bench in his usual spark-plug role.
That balance is going to make their Final Four matchup against Kansas an absolute epic. Both teams like to get up and down the court, as the Jayhawks averaged 81 ppg during the regular season, while Carolina averaged 89 ppg. Both teams like to run, as they each have great guard play and very athletic forwards that can run the floor.
Expect to see a lot of alley-oops and 3's in this contest. Should be one of the Games of the Year.
WEST REGION
#1 UCLA over #3 Xavier, 76-57
UCLA earned their record 18th trip to the Final Four Saturday with a decisive 76-57 win over Xavier, behind a dominant performance from their starters, who scored 73 of the Bruins' 76 total points, led by Fab Freshman F Kevin Love and PG Darren Collison, who each had 19.
If UCLA goes on to win the NCAA Title this yea, Love will without a doubt be named Tournament M.O.P. He doesn't even have to play in the Bruins' final two games...that's how good the 6'10", 275 lb. forward has been...and Saturday was no different.
Love completely dominated a solid Xavier frontcourt to the tune of 19 points, 10 rebounds, including 5 on the offensive glass, and 2 more blocks to move his Tourney total to 17 (4.25 bpg). The thing I love the most about Love is that he rarely wastes a shot. He went 7-11 against Xavier, including 2-4 from the arc, and 3-4 from the line. Here's are his percentages now through 4 Tourney games:
32-52 FG (61.5%), 17-22 FT (77.3%), 6-16 3-FG (38%)
With 87 points on only 52 FG attempts, Love is averaging 1.67 points per shot, an absolutely stunning number. (Consider that his 1.67 pps would rank 2nd in the NBA behind only Orlando Magic F Dwight Howard at 1.74. And that doesn't even mention that Love's regular season pps was actually 1.69.)
But while Love basically single-handedly carried UCLA to wins against Texas A&M and Western Kentucky, he got some much-needed help from his teammates against the Musketeers. UCLA shot 54% as a team, getting 19 from Collison on 7-12 shooting. G Russell Westbrook chipped in 17 on 7-11 FG, and F Luc Richard Mbah A Moute recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, including 7 offensive.
Kevin Love finally got some help...and that may mean the Bruins, who have lost in the Final Four each of the last two years, may finally cut down the nets for the 13th time in school history next Monday night.
SOUTH REGION
#1 Memphis over #2 Texas, 85-67
Memphis has been the trendy upset pick for the last two rounds, and now, after their 2nd straight blowout win, will be considered a very legitimate National Title threat.
The Tigers jumped on Texas right from the opening tip, taking an 18-8 lead six minutes in, and then pushing that to 29-14 with 7:00 to play in the 1st half before winning fairly easily, 85-67. Texas was probably the toughest matchup for any of the #1 seeds in the Elite 8, so Memphis' victory should be thought of as that more impressive.
PG Derrick Rose continued to show why he should be a Top-2 NBA Draft pick if he decided to declare after his freshman season. Rose is the most complete all-around guard in the college game, and dominated Texas' undersized guard tandem of A.J. Abrams and D.J. Augustin. Rose scored 21 points on 7-10 FG and 7-8 FT, dished out 9 assists (with only 2 TO's), and grabbed 6 rebounds. Check out his Tourney numbers:
20.5 pts, 58% FG, 6 asst (6:1 asst/TO ratio), 6 reb
Rose is so strong with the ball, and rarely makes a bad decision, as shown in his 6:1 assist to turnover ratio. He can shoot from anywhere on the court, but is most dangerous when he drives to the bucket. He doesn't take a lot of 3's, but shoots a respectable 35% for the season (he's 4-9 in the Tourney). The freshman's overall play in the Tourney has cemented his place as the best guard in the country.
However, in order for Memphis to beat UCLA, they'll need to give Rose some help...something they got against Texas. G Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 25 points, F Joey Dorsey recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and F Shawn Taggart chipped in 12 big points off the bench on 5-7 FG.
That kind of balance will be vital against a Bruins team that can beat you many ways. Memphis is the most athletic team left in the Final Four, and if they can play their style of game, they'll give UCLA all they can handle. Once again, this should be one of the Games of the Year.
Mark my words: This will go down as the greatest collection of talent in a Final Four in NCAA History. Get ready!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
NCAA Sweet 16 Recap
And then there were 8. After some close games, some blowouts, and 1 Cinderella who's clock still has not struck midnight, we're down to the Elite Eight in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Here's what the field still looks like:
4 #1 seeds (All the #1's are stil alive...UNC, Kansas, Memphis, UCLA)
1 #2 seed (Texas)
2 #3 seeds (Louisville, Xavier)
1 #10 seed (Davidson)
MIDWEST REGION
#10 Davidson over #3 Wisconsin, 73-56
Yes, the fierce Wildcats from Davidson, the smallest school in this year's Tournament with a 1700-student enrollment, are still dancin'. With authority even! Davidson absolutely throttled #3 seed Wisconsin 73-56...a Badgers team who were the #1-ranked Defensive Scoring team in the country coming into the Tournament.
Stephen Curry continued to show why he is the GREATEST SHOOTER THE NCAA TOURNAMENT HAS SEEN IN YEARS...maybe ever. Curry poured in 33 points on 11-22 from the field, including 6-11 from the 3-point line...and once again completely dominated the 2nd half with 22 of his 33 coming in the closing stanza to sink Wisconsin...all with the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Flowers, guarding him.
To put that into perspective: Curry outsocred the entire Wisconsin team in the 2nd half, 22-20.
In Davidson's three Tourney games so far, Curry has scored 103 points, the biggest 3-game total since 1990, averaging 34.3 ppg. When you include Curry's 30-point effort in Davidson's first round loss to Maryland in last year's NCAA's, the sensational sophomore is now only the 4th player in NCAA history to score 30 or more in his first 4 Tourney games (Clyde Lovelette - Kansas...Jerry Chambers - Utah...Glenn Robinson - Purdue).
Even Lebron James was impressed at Curry's performance, as the NBA Superstar grabbed a ticket a few rows behind Davidson's bench to watch the Wildcats' sharpshooter, and on more than one occasion, you could read the word "Wow" on LBJ's lips when one of Curry's silky-smooth treys found nothing but the bottom of the net.
(In addition to King James, about 300 Davidson students were able to catch the Sweet 16 game at Ford Field in Detroit...thanks to Davidson's Board of Trustees - who offered to pay for bus fare, tickets, and a hotel room for every student - and the 300 who took them up on the offer now definitely all agree that the 11-hour bus ride was worth it, as the Wildcats look to reach the Final Four Sunday.)
#1 Kansas over #12 Villanova, 72-57
That will be a tall order however, as Davidson's next opponent is #1 seed Kansas, who dispatched of #12 seed Villanova in the late game tonight, 72-57, in a game that was over by halftime (KU led 41-22 at the break and pushed that to 55-34 with 11:22 to play.)
Kansas did exactly what they wanted to in this game, using their supreme depth to run Villanova out of the gym. The Wildcats actually play their best ball when they are running in the open floor and letting PG Scottie Reynolds fill up the stat sheet. The problem: Kansas wants to do that as well, and the Jayhawks are much better at it.
Kansas came into the Tourney as the nation's top scoring team (81 ppg), and used their backcourt balane to pick Nova apart. Brandon Rush led the Jayhawks with 16 points on 6-12 FG, Russell Robinson had 15, and Mario Chalmers chipped in 14. Kansas shot 53.3% from the field, while holding Villanova to 35.6% shooting, including just 11 points on 4-13 FG for Reynolds.
While Kansas will go into their Elite Eight game against Davidson as a heavy favorite, it should be noted that the Jayhawks have yet to be tested in the Tourney. Their three wins have come over #16 Portland State, #8 UNLV, and #12 Villanova. Now, they face another double-digit seed in the #10 Wildcats, but most would agree that Davidson, currently holding the nation's longest winning streak at 25, has played more like a 2 or 3 seed than a 10.
SOUTH REGION
#1 Memphis over #5 Michigan State, 92-74
In the other Friday / Sunday regional, Memphis showed *why* they went 33-1 in the regular season, and quieted all the doubters who thought Michigan State would make the Tigers the first #1 seed to go down.
The game was much worse than the 18-point final margin indicates. After taking a 4-2 lead, the Spartans never even sniffed Memphis again. At 6:18 to go in the 1st half, Michigan State scored to make it 35-20 Memphis. The Spartans did not score the rest of the half, and the Tigers took a commanding 50-20 lead into the break...and cruised to victory in the 2nd half.
Tigers' PG Derrick Rose showed why he's going to be a Top-2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft...if he chooses to declare. The Fab Freshman scored 27 points on 10-16 FG, including 5 assists and 4 rebounds in only 26 minutes of play. No one on the usually stout Spartan D could prevent Rose from doing whatever he pleased in the 1st half...and the 92 points Memphis scored are the most allowed by a Tom Izzo-coached team...EVER.
#2 Texas over #3 Stanford, 82-62
In the other South's other Regional Semi, Texas used a 16-2 run over a 7:30 span late in the 2nd half to pull away from Stanford and win convincly, 82-62. This matchup actually had the potential to be the most fun of any Sweet 16 game because of the severe contrast in styles: Stanford's Frontcourt v. Texas' Backcourt.
Stanford runs everything through the Lopez twins, Robin and Brook, on the offensive end. The two 7-footers clog the paint better than any frontcourt in the college game, and are a load to handle...especially Brook, the more offensively-gifted of the two (30 points in 2nd Round win v. Marquette).
Texas, on the other hand, likes to get out and run behind their All-American PG D.J. Augustin and sharpshooting SG A.J. Abrams. In my opinion, Augustin is the best pure point guard in the college game, with the ability to score from anywhere and find his teammates at will...including Abrams, who along with Davidson's Curry, has the quickest 3-point release I've seen in some time.
So the battle came down to which team could set the game at their pace...and thus play their game. That was Texas, who got 23 points and 7 assists from Augustin, along with 18 huge points from F Damion James. Abrams chipped in 12 and F Connor Atchley had 10. Brook Lopez scored a team high 26 for Stanford, to go along with 10 rebounds, but didn't get nearly enough help as the Cardinal only shot 33.8% from the field.
EAST REGION
#1 UNC over #4 WSU, 68-47
North Carolina is playing like the #1 overall seed. The Tar Heels have looked dominant in their first three wins in the Tourney, beating opponents by an average of 30.3 ppg. Washington State put up a fight for longer than I actually expected (North Carolina was up 15-14 with 8:55 to play in the 1st), but UNC eventually hit their stride and ran away with it.
The Tar Heels love to push the ball, and if I was coaching a team with Ty Lawson as my Point Guard, I would love to push the ball as well. Lawson is the quickest guard in the country (with Augustin and UCLA PG Darren Collison a close second), and he has very ahtletic teammate to fins in the open court when UNC is in transition.
G Wayne Ellington is a pure scorer who can shoot it with the best of them, and G-F Danny Green is a spark plug off the bench who would be the #1 option on 90% of the teams in the country. And that's without even mentioning All-American and potential Player of the Year F Tyler Hansbrough, who will get every loose ball and make every lay-up on his way to 25 points and 10 rebounds every night.
Washington State has a future NBA prospect of their own in F Kyle Weaver, who may be the best and most versatile defender in the country. But even Weaver couldn't stop all of Carolina's options. Hansbrough led the team with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while Green chipped in 15 off the bench on 6-10 FG, including 3 three's. Ellington and Lawson were also in double figured, with 13 and 12, respectively. Combine that with WSU's 31.6%, and it all adds up to a UNC berth in the Elite 8.
#3 Louisville over #2 Tennessee, 79-60
The award for most impressive Sweet 16 team performance: Louisville, who dismantled former #1-ranked, and a lot of people's National Champ pick, Tennessee, 79-60. Maybe the only thing more impressive than the Cardinals' win...their coach's record in Sweet 16 games. With the win, Rick Pitino is now 8-0 all-time in Sweet 16 contests, the best such mark in the history of the Tournament. (The only coach to win more than 8 consecutive Sweet 16 games: John Wooden, who won 11 straight from 1964-1975.)
Pitino's defensive sets confused Tennessee to no end, and the high-scoring Vols ended up making only 19 FG's on 33.9% shooting. G Chris Lofton led Tennessee with 15 points, but only shot 3-15 from the field to continue his cold streak in the Tourney (7-33 FG, 5-23 from the arc). G JaJuan Smith scored 12 points on 5-11 FG while F Tyler Smith added 11.
Louisville, on the other hand, looked extremely impressive on both ends of the floor. F Terrence Williams played like an NBA Lottery pick Thursday night, with 12 pts. and 8 reb., including throwing down a very impressive dunk late in the game to seal the Cardinals win. The Cardinals ended up with 5 players in double figures, led by F Earl Clark off the bench, who chipped in 17 huge points on 7-10 FG and 12 grabbed rebounds in 28 minutes of work.
Louisvile's defense, which forced 17 Vols' turnovers, is a big reason why a lot of college basketball analysts are giving the Cardinals a chance to beat UNC in the Elite Eight. Louisville is very balanced, with Williams, Clark, F Derrick Caracter and C David Padgett anchoring the front line, and G's Andre McGee and Jerry Smith holding down the backcourt. And I believe they have the best coach left in the Tourney in Pitino, who has a National Title under his belt, and has taken three different teams to the Final Four.
WEST REGION
#1 UCLA over #12 WKU, 88-78
UCLA needed a last-second Darren Collison lay-up to avoid OT against Texas A&M in the 2nd round. They got it, and now are into the Elite Eight for the third straight year after a fairly easy win over Cinderella Western Kentucky, 88-78. The Bruins actually went up big on the Hilltoppers in the 1st half, and led 41-20 at the break. But WKU was resilient, and climbed to within 4 with 7:00 to play. But UCLA regained their composure and put it away with a 9-2 run.
While I don't think there's any doubt Stephen Curry is the Tournament M.O.P. so far, Bruins' F Kevin Love is not too far behind, and probably has a better shot at winning since UCLA is likely to advance farther than the Wildcats.
While Curry has put up scoring numbers that may never be matched again in an NCAA Tourney, you can't ignore Love's overall performance in UCLA's first three games:
22.7 PPG on 61% FG, 11.3 RPG, 5 BPG
UCLA needed every single one of Love's points down the stretch to pull out the victory against Texas A&M, and Love continued his dominant play at the hands of the undermatched Hilltoppers. The 6'10", 275 lb. freshman Center scored 29 points on 10-14 FG, pulled down 14 rebounds, and had 4 blocks in 38 minutes of work...in a game he dominated from start to finish.
Love and PG Collison combined for all but 11 of UCLA's points against A&M...but the Bruins woke up against Western Kentucky. G Josh Shipp broke out of his month-long shooting slump to score 14 points on 5-9 FG, G Russell Westbrook added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and F Adam Keefe recorded his first career double-double off the bench, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds (6 offensive) on 7-9 FG.
G Tyrone Brazelton did absolutely everything he could to keep Western Kentucky in the game, scoring 31 points on 10-21 FG, including 6-10 from the arc. Brazelton actually hit back-to-back three's to key the Hilltoppers 2nd half run, and showed he belongs in the discussion of elite point guards in the nation as he held UCLA's heralded Collison to 4 points on 1-6 FG, and actually made Collison foul-out late in the game, the first time he picked up more than 3 fouls all season.
#3 Xavier over #7 West Virginia, 79-75 in OT
This was easily the best game of the Sweet 16 with probably the two most evenly-matched teams, talent wise, squaring off. Unfortunately, this game was actually decided by the refs, as West Virginia's go-to player, F Joe Alexander, fouled out 30 seconds into the overtime period, and the Mountaineers couldn't get any offensive rhythm after that. (And to be fair to the refs...it was a correct call. Just unfortunate that arguably the best player on the floor had to sit while his team was knocked out.)
While Alexander's DQ was the ultimate reason West Virginia lost, Xavier's balance is what has carried the Musketeers throught three tough Tourney games. Xavier came into the tournament with 6 players averaging 10+ points, which I why I thought they could make a deep Tourney run.
While they don't have a legit go-to option, Xavier's fate is most directly tied to the play of diminutive PG Drew Lavender. The 5'7" transfer from Oklahoma is lightning fast on the break, and gets the Musketeers in and out of transition as a pass-first point guard. Lavender also takes care of the ball very well, as evidenced in his 7 assist, 1 TO performance against West Virginia Thursday night.
As I said, Lavender has a lot of help...Xavier can have a different leading scorer every night, depending on the style of game their opponent plays. Against a smaller West Virginia squad, 6'9" F Josh Duncan turned out to be the offensive stud of the night. Duncan dominated the paint against shorter defenders, ending up with 26 points on 7-15 FG and 9-10 FT. F C.J. Anderson posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and G B.J. Raymond, off the bench, hit two huge 3's in OT to secure Xavier's win.
It might have been a different story had Alexander not fouled out, since the sensational forward absolutely dominated the 2nd half of the game that West Virginia almost pulled out in regulation. After being held to just 2 points in the 1st half, Alexander scored 16 in the 2nd half, including the game-tying bucket with 4 seconds to play in regulation. Alexander ended up with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and after a very solid Tourney, secured his spot in the NBA's 1st Round...should the Junior declare for June's draft.
Until then...Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk!!!
Here's what the field still looks like:
4 #1 seeds (All the #1's are stil alive...UNC, Kansas, Memphis, UCLA)
1 #2 seed (Texas)
2 #3 seeds (Louisville, Xavier)
1 #10 seed (Davidson)
MIDWEST REGION
#10 Davidson over #3 Wisconsin, 73-56
Yes, the fierce Wildcats from Davidson, the smallest school in this year's Tournament with a 1700-student enrollment, are still dancin'. With authority even! Davidson absolutely throttled #3 seed Wisconsin 73-56...a Badgers team who were the #1-ranked Defensive Scoring team in the country coming into the Tournament.
Stephen Curry continued to show why he is the GREATEST SHOOTER THE NCAA TOURNAMENT HAS SEEN IN YEARS...maybe ever. Curry poured in 33 points on 11-22 from the field, including 6-11 from the 3-point line...and once again completely dominated the 2nd half with 22 of his 33 coming in the closing stanza to sink Wisconsin...all with the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Flowers, guarding him.
To put that into perspective: Curry outsocred the entire Wisconsin team in the 2nd half, 22-20.
In Davidson's three Tourney games so far, Curry has scored 103 points, the biggest 3-game total since 1990, averaging 34.3 ppg. When you include Curry's 30-point effort in Davidson's first round loss to Maryland in last year's NCAA's, the sensational sophomore is now only the 4th player in NCAA history to score 30 or more in his first 4 Tourney games (Clyde Lovelette - Kansas...Jerry Chambers - Utah...Glenn Robinson - Purdue).
Even Lebron James was impressed at Curry's performance, as the NBA Superstar grabbed a ticket a few rows behind Davidson's bench to watch the Wildcats' sharpshooter, and on more than one occasion, you could read the word "Wow" on LBJ's lips when one of Curry's silky-smooth treys found nothing but the bottom of the net.
(In addition to King James, about 300 Davidson students were able to catch the Sweet 16 game at Ford Field in Detroit...thanks to Davidson's Board of Trustees - who offered to pay for bus fare, tickets, and a hotel room for every student - and the 300 who took them up on the offer now definitely all agree that the 11-hour bus ride was worth it, as the Wildcats look to reach the Final Four Sunday.)
#1 Kansas over #12 Villanova, 72-57
That will be a tall order however, as Davidson's next opponent is #1 seed Kansas, who dispatched of #12 seed Villanova in the late game tonight, 72-57, in a game that was over by halftime (KU led 41-22 at the break and pushed that to 55-34 with 11:22 to play.)
Kansas did exactly what they wanted to in this game, using their supreme depth to run Villanova out of the gym. The Wildcats actually play their best ball when they are running in the open floor and letting PG Scottie Reynolds fill up the stat sheet. The problem: Kansas wants to do that as well, and the Jayhawks are much better at it.
Kansas came into the Tourney as the nation's top scoring team (81 ppg), and used their backcourt balane to pick Nova apart. Brandon Rush led the Jayhawks with 16 points on 6-12 FG, Russell Robinson had 15, and Mario Chalmers chipped in 14. Kansas shot 53.3% from the field, while holding Villanova to 35.6% shooting, including just 11 points on 4-13 FG for Reynolds.
While Kansas will go into their Elite Eight game against Davidson as a heavy favorite, it should be noted that the Jayhawks have yet to be tested in the Tourney. Their three wins have come over #16 Portland State, #8 UNLV, and #12 Villanova. Now, they face another double-digit seed in the #10 Wildcats, but most would agree that Davidson, currently holding the nation's longest winning streak at 25, has played more like a 2 or 3 seed than a 10.
SOUTH REGION
#1 Memphis over #5 Michigan State, 92-74
In the other Friday / Sunday regional, Memphis showed *why* they went 33-1 in the regular season, and quieted all the doubters who thought Michigan State would make the Tigers the first #1 seed to go down.
The game was much worse than the 18-point final margin indicates. After taking a 4-2 lead, the Spartans never even sniffed Memphis again. At 6:18 to go in the 1st half, Michigan State scored to make it 35-20 Memphis. The Spartans did not score the rest of the half, and the Tigers took a commanding 50-20 lead into the break...and cruised to victory in the 2nd half.
Tigers' PG Derrick Rose showed why he's going to be a Top-2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft...if he chooses to declare. The Fab Freshman scored 27 points on 10-16 FG, including 5 assists and 4 rebounds in only 26 minutes of play. No one on the usually stout Spartan D could prevent Rose from doing whatever he pleased in the 1st half...and the 92 points Memphis scored are the most allowed by a Tom Izzo-coached team...EVER.
#2 Texas over #3 Stanford, 82-62
In the other South's other Regional Semi, Texas used a 16-2 run over a 7:30 span late in the 2nd half to pull away from Stanford and win convincly, 82-62. This matchup actually had the potential to be the most fun of any Sweet 16 game because of the severe contrast in styles: Stanford's Frontcourt v. Texas' Backcourt.
Stanford runs everything through the Lopez twins, Robin and Brook, on the offensive end. The two 7-footers clog the paint better than any frontcourt in the college game, and are a load to handle...especially Brook, the more offensively-gifted of the two (30 points in 2nd Round win v. Marquette).
Texas, on the other hand, likes to get out and run behind their All-American PG D.J. Augustin and sharpshooting SG A.J. Abrams. In my opinion, Augustin is the best pure point guard in the college game, with the ability to score from anywhere and find his teammates at will...including Abrams, who along with Davidson's Curry, has the quickest 3-point release I've seen in some time.
So the battle came down to which team could set the game at their pace...and thus play their game. That was Texas, who got 23 points and 7 assists from Augustin, along with 18 huge points from F Damion James. Abrams chipped in 12 and F Connor Atchley had 10. Brook Lopez scored a team high 26 for Stanford, to go along with 10 rebounds, but didn't get nearly enough help as the Cardinal only shot 33.8% from the field.
EAST REGION
#1 UNC over #4 WSU, 68-47
North Carolina is playing like the #1 overall seed. The Tar Heels have looked dominant in their first three wins in the Tourney, beating opponents by an average of 30.3 ppg. Washington State put up a fight for longer than I actually expected (North Carolina was up 15-14 with 8:55 to play in the 1st), but UNC eventually hit their stride and ran away with it.
The Tar Heels love to push the ball, and if I was coaching a team with Ty Lawson as my Point Guard, I would love to push the ball as well. Lawson is the quickest guard in the country (with Augustin and UCLA PG Darren Collison a close second), and he has very ahtletic teammate to fins in the open court when UNC is in transition.
G Wayne Ellington is a pure scorer who can shoot it with the best of them, and G-F Danny Green is a spark plug off the bench who would be the #1 option on 90% of the teams in the country. And that's without even mentioning All-American and potential Player of the Year F Tyler Hansbrough, who will get every loose ball and make every lay-up on his way to 25 points and 10 rebounds every night.
Washington State has a future NBA prospect of their own in F Kyle Weaver, who may be the best and most versatile defender in the country. But even Weaver couldn't stop all of Carolina's options. Hansbrough led the team with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while Green chipped in 15 off the bench on 6-10 FG, including 3 three's. Ellington and Lawson were also in double figured, with 13 and 12, respectively. Combine that with WSU's 31.6%, and it all adds up to a UNC berth in the Elite 8.
#3 Louisville over #2 Tennessee, 79-60
The award for most impressive Sweet 16 team performance: Louisville, who dismantled former #1-ranked, and a lot of people's National Champ pick, Tennessee, 79-60. Maybe the only thing more impressive than the Cardinals' win...their coach's record in Sweet 16 games. With the win, Rick Pitino is now 8-0 all-time in Sweet 16 contests, the best such mark in the history of the Tournament. (The only coach to win more than 8 consecutive Sweet 16 games: John Wooden, who won 11 straight from 1964-1975.)
Pitino's defensive sets confused Tennessee to no end, and the high-scoring Vols ended up making only 19 FG's on 33.9% shooting. G Chris Lofton led Tennessee with 15 points, but only shot 3-15 from the field to continue his cold streak in the Tourney (7-33 FG, 5-23 from the arc). G JaJuan Smith scored 12 points on 5-11 FG while F Tyler Smith added 11.
Louisville, on the other hand, looked extremely impressive on both ends of the floor. F Terrence Williams played like an NBA Lottery pick Thursday night, with 12 pts. and 8 reb., including throwing down a very impressive dunk late in the game to seal the Cardinals win. The Cardinals ended up with 5 players in double figures, led by F Earl Clark off the bench, who chipped in 17 huge points on 7-10 FG and 12 grabbed rebounds in 28 minutes of work.
Louisvile's defense, which forced 17 Vols' turnovers, is a big reason why a lot of college basketball analysts are giving the Cardinals a chance to beat UNC in the Elite Eight. Louisville is very balanced, with Williams, Clark, F Derrick Caracter and C David Padgett anchoring the front line, and G's Andre McGee and Jerry Smith holding down the backcourt. And I believe they have the best coach left in the Tourney in Pitino, who has a National Title under his belt, and has taken three different teams to the Final Four.
WEST REGION
#1 UCLA over #12 WKU, 88-78
UCLA needed a last-second Darren Collison lay-up to avoid OT against Texas A&M in the 2nd round. They got it, and now are into the Elite Eight for the third straight year after a fairly easy win over Cinderella Western Kentucky, 88-78. The Bruins actually went up big on the Hilltoppers in the 1st half, and led 41-20 at the break. But WKU was resilient, and climbed to within 4 with 7:00 to play. But UCLA regained their composure and put it away with a 9-2 run.
While I don't think there's any doubt Stephen Curry is the Tournament M.O.P. so far, Bruins' F Kevin Love is not too far behind, and probably has a better shot at winning since UCLA is likely to advance farther than the Wildcats.
While Curry has put up scoring numbers that may never be matched again in an NCAA Tourney, you can't ignore Love's overall performance in UCLA's first three games:
22.7 PPG on 61% FG, 11.3 RPG, 5 BPG
UCLA needed every single one of Love's points down the stretch to pull out the victory against Texas A&M, and Love continued his dominant play at the hands of the undermatched Hilltoppers. The 6'10", 275 lb. freshman Center scored 29 points on 10-14 FG, pulled down 14 rebounds, and had 4 blocks in 38 minutes of work...in a game he dominated from start to finish.
Love and PG Collison combined for all but 11 of UCLA's points against A&M...but the Bruins woke up against Western Kentucky. G Josh Shipp broke out of his month-long shooting slump to score 14 points on 5-9 FG, G Russell Westbrook added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and F Adam Keefe recorded his first career double-double off the bench, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds (6 offensive) on 7-9 FG.
G Tyrone Brazelton did absolutely everything he could to keep Western Kentucky in the game, scoring 31 points on 10-21 FG, including 6-10 from the arc. Brazelton actually hit back-to-back three's to key the Hilltoppers 2nd half run, and showed he belongs in the discussion of elite point guards in the nation as he held UCLA's heralded Collison to 4 points on 1-6 FG, and actually made Collison foul-out late in the game, the first time he picked up more than 3 fouls all season.
#3 Xavier over #7 West Virginia, 79-75 in OT
This was easily the best game of the Sweet 16 with probably the two most evenly-matched teams, talent wise, squaring off. Unfortunately, this game was actually decided by the refs, as West Virginia's go-to player, F Joe Alexander, fouled out 30 seconds into the overtime period, and the Mountaineers couldn't get any offensive rhythm after that. (And to be fair to the refs...it was a correct call. Just unfortunate that arguably the best player on the floor had to sit while his team was knocked out.)
While Alexander's DQ was the ultimate reason West Virginia lost, Xavier's balance is what has carried the Musketeers throught three tough Tourney games. Xavier came into the tournament with 6 players averaging 10+ points, which I why I thought they could make a deep Tourney run.
While they don't have a legit go-to option, Xavier's fate is most directly tied to the play of diminutive PG Drew Lavender. The 5'7" transfer from Oklahoma is lightning fast on the break, and gets the Musketeers in and out of transition as a pass-first point guard. Lavender also takes care of the ball very well, as evidenced in his 7 assist, 1 TO performance against West Virginia Thursday night.
As I said, Lavender has a lot of help...Xavier can have a different leading scorer every night, depending on the style of game their opponent plays. Against a smaller West Virginia squad, 6'9" F Josh Duncan turned out to be the offensive stud of the night. Duncan dominated the paint against shorter defenders, ending up with 26 points on 7-15 FG and 9-10 FT. F C.J. Anderson posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and G B.J. Raymond, off the bench, hit two huge 3's in OT to secure Xavier's win.
It might have been a different story had Alexander not fouled out, since the sensational forward absolutely dominated the 2nd half of the game that West Virginia almost pulled out in regulation. After being held to just 2 points in the 1st half, Alexander scored 16 in the 2nd half, including the game-tying bucket with 4 seconds to play in regulation. Alexander ended up with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and after a very solid Tourney, secured his spot in the NBA's 1st Round...should the Junior declare for June's draft.
Until then...Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk!!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Top 5 Players - NCAA 1st and 2nd Rounds
I've already talked about my thoughts on the Best, Worst, and Most Exciting Teams from the first weekend of March Madness. But now I've decided to give a rundown of my Top 5 Players from the first weekend.
TOP PLAYERS (and thus current leaders for Tournament M.O.P):
5. Joe Alexander - West Virginia: Alexander was hotter than anyone in the country coming into the Tourney, averaging 25 ppg on 53% shooting and 7 rebounds over his last 8 regular season games (including the Big East Tourney). West Virginia drew a 7 seed in the West Regional, going up against 10 seed Arizona in the first round, arguably one of the 15 most talented teams *On Paper* in the entire field.
However, over the last 5 years, Arizona has been the most underachieving team in the land once the NCAA Tournament rolls around. So this was set up to be a good matchup between two talented teams. Alexander did not have his greatest game in the 1st Round matchup, but was solid with 14 pts, 8 reb and was a perfect 6-6 from the line in helping the Mountaineers beat the 'Cats 75-65.
West Virginia then advanced to the 2nd round where they took on #2 seed Duke. Alexander didn't have his best shooting night, going only 7-22 from the field, but once again was clutch from the line, hitting 7-8 free throws, on his way to a 22 pt, 11 reb night. West Virginia goes as Alexander goes...he is their best player and is a huge reason the Mountaineers beat the Blue Devils, 73-67, and are now a Sweet 16 squad.
4. Tyrone Brazelton - Western Kentucky: Brazelton was the best player in the tournament's best game so far. #12 seed Western Kentucky beat #5 seed Drake 101-99 in OT on a 30-foot three point buzzer beater.
Western Kentucky took a 9-point lead into halftime, and built that to 16 with 12:00 to play in the game before Drake got hot and hit a game-tying three to send it to OT with 30 seconds to play. Brazelton was a big reason the Hilltoppers built that lead, and even a bigger reason they held on to win in OT.
The WKU point guard scored 33 points, including 7 in OT, on 11-20 shooting, including 6-10 from three, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 5 assists, the last of which was after Brazelton took the ball from under his own basket, drove to the right wing of Drake's three-point line, and dished it back to A.J. Rogers for the game-winning three as time expired.
After Brazelton's heroics in the first game, he calmly followed that up with a solid 15 point, 5 asst showing to help the Hilltoppers beat #13 seed San Diego in the 2nd round, 72-63, and get into the record books.
This year marked just the 3rd time since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 that two #12 seeds made it to the Sweet 16 (Western Kentucky and Villanova).
3. Scottie Reynolds - Villanova: The sensational sophomore guard showed up big time on the scene last year as a freshman, scoring 23 points (but getting no help) in a 72-63 loss to Kentucky in the first round of the Tourney. This season, he's been even better.
Reynolds put up 21 points on 7-12 shooting, including 4-5 from three, in leading #12 seed 'Nova to a first round upset of #5 seed Clemson.
However, Reynolds did his best work in the 2nd round game against giant killer Siena. The #13 seed throttled #4 seed Vanderbilt in the first round, beating the Commodores by 21 points while holding them to 63 points (Vandy averaged 80 ppg during the regular season).
Reynolds and Villanova did significantly better against the Saints in the 2nd round. Reynolds was unstoppable, especially down the stretch, scoring 25 pts on 7-15 shooting, 4-7 from the arc, and 7-9 from the line. Reynolds also grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists while playing 37 minutes for the Wildcats in their 84-72 win.
At 6'2", 190 lbs., Reynolds is one of the Top 5 Point Guards in the country and will be a tough matchup for #1 seed Kansas in the Sweet 16.
2. Kevin Love - UCLA: Love is the best big man in the country. Period. I have watched him play about 10 times this season, and he is so fundamentally sound, and plays with as much passion as anybody (including Tyler Hansbrough). The difference between Hansbrough and Love is that while Hansbrough gets as much out of his talent as humanly possible, Love is simply more atheltic and more talented to begin with, so he has a higher ceiling in the NBA.
Only a freshamn, Love plays with the maturity of a 4th year senior, and is built like a 5-year NBA veteran. There is no doubt he is NBA ready right now.
As a #1 seed, UCLA had a very easy first round matchup with #16 seed Mississippi Valley State. But UCLA still showed why they can be considered a favorite to win the National Title. And Love was a huge reason. Here's his 1st Round line:
20 pts, 8-15 FG, 3-6 from the arc, 9 reb, 4 blks
Not to mention the 6'10", 270 lb. Center completely dominated the middle, as UCLA held Miss. Val. St. to 29 points.
However, in the Bruins second round matchup with Texas A&M, UCLA played maybe their worst game of the season. Outside of Love and PG Darren Collison, the rest of the Bruins scored 11 points...in the entire game...on 5-19 shooting. A&M actually led this game by 8 points with under 10:00 to play, but Love would not let the Bruins title hopes end.
When all was said and done, Love finished the game with 19 points on 7-12 FG, including 4-5 from the line, grabbed 11 rebounds, and completely dominated the paint with 7 blocks. Love made two jumpers in the last 3:00 to first tie the game up, and then put UCLA up 2 in the final minutes of a game they would never trail again.
Thus, UCLA is still in the running for their 12th National Title. And this may be their best chance for a while, as Love is likely outta here after this season as a Top 10 pick in the NBA Draft.
1. Stephen Curry - Davidson: An absolute no-brainer of a choice, no one has had more of an effect on their team's Tourney success this year than the Sensational sophomore guard from Davidson.
We first found out about Curry during last year's NCAA Tourney when the then baby-faced freshman guard, and son of former NBA Sharp-shooter Dell Curry, poured in 30 points in an 82-70 first round loss to Maryland. Curry got even better this season, as he led the Wildcats to a perfect 20-0 Southern Conference record while averaging 26 ppg on 49% shooting, including 45% from behind the arc and 89% from the free-throw stripe.
Curry had his Wildcats on a 22-game winning streak entering the Tourney this year, and thus drew a #10 seed, relatively high for a low-profile conference winner. But their 1st round opponent, #7 seed Gonzaga, knew Davidson was no push over. And unfortunately for them, Curry carried his stellar regular season play over to the NCAA's.
In a back-and-forth contest, Curry would not be denied, and carried the Wildcats on his back to an 82-76 win and a berth in the 2nd round. Curry's line:
40 pts, on 14-22 FG, 8-10 3FG, and 5 stls...30 points came in the 2nd half
Curry has turned into the ultimate scorer in the country this season, scoring 30 points in the 2nd half of a game that Gonzaga led by 5 at halftime, and probably would have won if Curry had simply had a great 2nd half, instead of the individual half of the tournament. But he didn't stop there...
Davidson's reward for getting out of the 1st round: a date with Big East champion, and #2 seed Georgetown, who came into the tournament at 27-5 with a Top-10 ranking. By all accounts, Georgetown should have beaten Davidson rather easily. The Wildcats do not have an answer for Roy Hibbert down low, and the Hoyas returned almost all of last year's Final Four team (except for NBA departee Jeff Green). But I guess nobody told Curry.
The Hoyas wasted no time dominating the game, slowing it down to their pace, and taking Curry out of the equation. Georgetown built a 14-point lead with under 1:00 to play in the contest, and then Curry, who had been held to 2 points until that point, knocked down his first three of the game to cut the lead to 11 at halftime. And just as he had against Gonzaga, Curry then took the 2nd half over.
Georgetown actually took a 16-point lead with just under 15:00 to play, during which Curry had not added to his 5 points. But Curry then knocked down a three, got fouled, and completed the 4-point play, and he was off and running.
After all was said and done, Curry scored 25 points in the 2nd half, for a total of 30, including 15 of Davidson's last 19 to propel the Wildcats to a stunning 74-70 win over the Hoyas and a berth in the Sweet 16.
Curry's two-game line:
35 ppg, 51% FG, 15-25 3FG, 3.5 asst, 4 stls
Davidson's opponent in the Sweet 16 is #3 seed Wisconsin, THE TOP DEFENSIVE SCORING TEAM IN THE COUNTRY. Here's guessing that's not gonna matter much when Curry steps on the floor.
TOP PLAYERS (and thus current leaders for Tournament M.O.P):
5. Joe Alexander - West Virginia: Alexander was hotter than anyone in the country coming into the Tourney, averaging 25 ppg on 53% shooting and 7 rebounds over his last 8 regular season games (including the Big East Tourney). West Virginia drew a 7 seed in the West Regional, going up against 10 seed Arizona in the first round, arguably one of the 15 most talented teams *On Paper* in the entire field.
However, over the last 5 years, Arizona has been the most underachieving team in the land once the NCAA Tournament rolls around. So this was set up to be a good matchup between two talented teams. Alexander did not have his greatest game in the 1st Round matchup, but was solid with 14 pts, 8 reb and was a perfect 6-6 from the line in helping the Mountaineers beat the 'Cats 75-65.
West Virginia then advanced to the 2nd round where they took on #2 seed Duke. Alexander didn't have his best shooting night, going only 7-22 from the field, but once again was clutch from the line, hitting 7-8 free throws, on his way to a 22 pt, 11 reb night. West Virginia goes as Alexander goes...he is their best player and is a huge reason the Mountaineers beat the Blue Devils, 73-67, and are now a Sweet 16 squad.
4. Tyrone Brazelton - Western Kentucky: Brazelton was the best player in the tournament's best game so far. #12 seed Western Kentucky beat #5 seed Drake 101-99 in OT on a 30-foot three point buzzer beater.
Western Kentucky took a 9-point lead into halftime, and built that to 16 with 12:00 to play in the game before Drake got hot and hit a game-tying three to send it to OT with 30 seconds to play. Brazelton was a big reason the Hilltoppers built that lead, and even a bigger reason they held on to win in OT.
The WKU point guard scored 33 points, including 7 in OT, on 11-20 shooting, including 6-10 from three, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 5 assists, the last of which was after Brazelton took the ball from under his own basket, drove to the right wing of Drake's three-point line, and dished it back to A.J. Rogers for the game-winning three as time expired.
After Brazelton's heroics in the first game, he calmly followed that up with a solid 15 point, 5 asst showing to help the Hilltoppers beat #13 seed San Diego in the 2nd round, 72-63, and get into the record books.
This year marked just the 3rd time since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 that two #12 seeds made it to the Sweet 16 (Western Kentucky and Villanova).
3. Scottie Reynolds - Villanova: The sensational sophomore guard showed up big time on the scene last year as a freshman, scoring 23 points (but getting no help) in a 72-63 loss to Kentucky in the first round of the Tourney. This season, he's been even better.
Reynolds put up 21 points on 7-12 shooting, including 4-5 from three, in leading #12 seed 'Nova to a first round upset of #5 seed Clemson.
However, Reynolds did his best work in the 2nd round game against giant killer Siena. The #13 seed throttled #4 seed Vanderbilt in the first round, beating the Commodores by 21 points while holding them to 63 points (Vandy averaged 80 ppg during the regular season).
Reynolds and Villanova did significantly better against the Saints in the 2nd round. Reynolds was unstoppable, especially down the stretch, scoring 25 pts on 7-15 shooting, 4-7 from the arc, and 7-9 from the line. Reynolds also grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists while playing 37 minutes for the Wildcats in their 84-72 win.
At 6'2", 190 lbs., Reynolds is one of the Top 5 Point Guards in the country and will be a tough matchup for #1 seed Kansas in the Sweet 16.
2. Kevin Love - UCLA: Love is the best big man in the country. Period. I have watched him play about 10 times this season, and he is so fundamentally sound, and plays with as much passion as anybody (including Tyler Hansbrough). The difference between Hansbrough and Love is that while Hansbrough gets as much out of his talent as humanly possible, Love is simply more atheltic and more talented to begin with, so he has a higher ceiling in the NBA.
Only a freshamn, Love plays with the maturity of a 4th year senior, and is built like a 5-year NBA veteran. There is no doubt he is NBA ready right now.
As a #1 seed, UCLA had a very easy first round matchup with #16 seed Mississippi Valley State. But UCLA still showed why they can be considered a favorite to win the National Title. And Love was a huge reason. Here's his 1st Round line:
20 pts, 8-15 FG, 3-6 from the arc, 9 reb, 4 blks
Not to mention the 6'10", 270 lb. Center completely dominated the middle, as UCLA held Miss. Val. St. to 29 points.
However, in the Bruins second round matchup with Texas A&M, UCLA played maybe their worst game of the season. Outside of Love and PG Darren Collison, the rest of the Bruins scored 11 points...in the entire game...on 5-19 shooting. A&M actually led this game by 8 points with under 10:00 to play, but Love would not let the Bruins title hopes end.
When all was said and done, Love finished the game with 19 points on 7-12 FG, including 4-5 from the line, grabbed 11 rebounds, and completely dominated the paint with 7 blocks. Love made two jumpers in the last 3:00 to first tie the game up, and then put UCLA up 2 in the final minutes of a game they would never trail again.
Thus, UCLA is still in the running for their 12th National Title. And this may be their best chance for a while, as Love is likely outta here after this season as a Top 10 pick in the NBA Draft.
1. Stephen Curry - Davidson: An absolute no-brainer of a choice, no one has had more of an effect on their team's Tourney success this year than the Sensational sophomore guard from Davidson.
We first found out about Curry during last year's NCAA Tourney when the then baby-faced freshman guard, and son of former NBA Sharp-shooter Dell Curry, poured in 30 points in an 82-70 first round loss to Maryland. Curry got even better this season, as he led the Wildcats to a perfect 20-0 Southern Conference record while averaging 26 ppg on 49% shooting, including 45% from behind the arc and 89% from the free-throw stripe.
Curry had his Wildcats on a 22-game winning streak entering the Tourney this year, and thus drew a #10 seed, relatively high for a low-profile conference winner. But their 1st round opponent, #7 seed Gonzaga, knew Davidson was no push over. And unfortunately for them, Curry carried his stellar regular season play over to the NCAA's.
In a back-and-forth contest, Curry would not be denied, and carried the Wildcats on his back to an 82-76 win and a berth in the 2nd round. Curry's line:
40 pts, on 14-22 FG, 8-10 3FG, and 5 stls...30 points came in the 2nd half
Curry has turned into the ultimate scorer in the country this season, scoring 30 points in the 2nd half of a game that Gonzaga led by 5 at halftime, and probably would have won if Curry had simply had a great 2nd half, instead of the individual half of the tournament. But he didn't stop there...
Davidson's reward for getting out of the 1st round: a date with Big East champion, and #2 seed Georgetown, who came into the tournament at 27-5 with a Top-10 ranking. By all accounts, Georgetown should have beaten Davidson rather easily. The Wildcats do not have an answer for Roy Hibbert down low, and the Hoyas returned almost all of last year's Final Four team (except for NBA departee Jeff Green). But I guess nobody told Curry.
The Hoyas wasted no time dominating the game, slowing it down to their pace, and taking Curry out of the equation. Georgetown built a 14-point lead with under 1:00 to play in the contest, and then Curry, who had been held to 2 points until that point, knocked down his first three of the game to cut the lead to 11 at halftime. And just as he had against Gonzaga, Curry then took the 2nd half over.
Georgetown actually took a 16-point lead with just under 15:00 to play, during which Curry had not added to his 5 points. But Curry then knocked down a three, got fouled, and completed the 4-point play, and he was off and running.
After all was said and done, Curry scored 25 points in the 2nd half, for a total of 30, including 15 of Davidson's last 19 to propel the Wildcats to a stunning 74-70 win over the Hoyas and a berth in the Sweet 16.
Curry's two-game line:
35 ppg, 51% FG, 15-25 3FG, 3.5 asst, 4 stls
Davidson's opponent in the Sweet 16 is #3 seed Wisconsin, THE TOP DEFENSIVE SCORING TEAM IN THE COUNTRY. Here's guessing that's not gonna matter much when Curry steps on the floor.
NCAA 1st and 2nd Round Analysis - Teams
Since I was in Denver, I didn't get to see much of Thursday's 1st Round action outsie of the games in the Pepsi Center. However, I did get to see some of the other games in between the Denver matchups, and watched almost all of the rest of the 4 days of tourney action. And here's what I thought...
(P.S: I should preface this entry with a couple of notes. First, I'm not gonna talk about my brackets because right now, they're too embarrassing to go into. All of my Final Four teams are still alive, so I still have the potential to do well, but the 1st and 2nd rounds were not kind to me. Second, I am a die-hard Kansas Jayhawks fan...my dad graduated from there...so I will try and be as unbiased as possible, but know that I sometimes can't help it.)
1. Most Impressive Team?
North Carolina. The Tar Heels have absolutely obliterated their first two opponents. Granted, the overall #1 seed hasn't had the toughest of competition in #16 seed Mount St. Mary's and #9 seed Arkansas. Even so...UNC has averaged over 110 points per game (an astounding number no matter who the opponent is) and has a 35 point average margin of victory. Carolina is running on all cylinders offensively, playing better than they have all year. This team looks very scary right now, getting scoring from every key contributor on the team (National POY Candidate Tyler Hansbrough...Ty Lawson, who is looking like his pre-injury self at point guard...Wayne Ellington, UNC's deadliest shooter...and Danny Green, their spark plug off the bench.)
Other teams who have looked very solid: Kansas, Louisville, Michigan State, Washington State, Texas
2. Most Dissapointing Team?
This could go to a lot of squads, but I'm going with Vanderbilt. The Commodores were a very solid squad throughout the year, going 26-8 and averaging 80 ppg. That record included a 41-point win in the 2nd half of the season over #11 seed Kentucky and a 3-point win over former #1 ranked, and current #2 seed Tennessee.
They came into the tourney as a #4 seed in the Midwest, drawing #13 seed Siena in the 1st Round, no doubt a solid squad who can score in bunche themselves, but a team who only got in by winning their conference tourney.
So what happened in that 1st Round matchup? Vandy laid an absolute egg and lost by 21 points, 83-62. The Commodores never led, as the Saints jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and stayed on the gas pedal the whole way. Vandy only shot 41% from the field in getting their names into the record books, as Siena's win was the 2nd largest margin of victory for a 13 seed over a 4 seed since the Tournament expanded to 64/65 teams in 1985.
Other dissapointments include: UCONN, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh
3. Best Opening-Weekend Game
#5 Drake v. #12 Western Kentucky (W. Kentucky wins 101-99 in OT). This game is the epitome of what makes the NCAA Tourney the best 3 weeks on the sports calendar. Slim, Mitch, and I met up with some buddies at the ESPN Zone in Denver, where we ended up watching the 2nd half and OT of this game. All of us, except Slim, picked Drake to win this game in our brackets (Mitch had the most riding on it as he had Drake as an Elite Eight team).
Western Kentucky had a 9-point lead at halftime, and built that up to 16 at the Under-12:00 media timeout. The Hilltoppers were rolling, and everytime Drake would try to make a run, it seemed like WKU would hit a big bucket to push it back to double digits.
However, Drake finally showed why they dominated as a mid-major this season, and brought the game to within 1-point with just over 1:00 to play. The Hilltoppers Tyrone Brazelton then hit a jumper on thir next possession to push the lead back to 3, but in true Tourney fashion, the Bulldogs' Jonathan Cox knocked down a game-tying three to send it OT.
(P.S: I should preface this entry with a couple of notes. First, I'm not gonna talk about my brackets because right now, they're too embarrassing to go into. All of my Final Four teams are still alive, so I still have the potential to do well, but the 1st and 2nd rounds were not kind to me. Second, I am a die-hard Kansas Jayhawks fan...my dad graduated from there...so I will try and be as unbiased as possible, but know that I sometimes can't help it.)
1. Most Impressive Team?
North Carolina. The Tar Heels have absolutely obliterated their first two opponents. Granted, the overall #1 seed hasn't had the toughest of competition in #16 seed Mount St. Mary's and #9 seed Arkansas. Even so...UNC has averaged over 110 points per game (an astounding number no matter who the opponent is) and has a 35 point average margin of victory. Carolina is running on all cylinders offensively, playing better than they have all year. This team looks very scary right now, getting scoring from every key contributor on the team (National POY Candidate Tyler Hansbrough...Ty Lawson, who is looking like his pre-injury self at point guard...Wayne Ellington, UNC's deadliest shooter...and Danny Green, their spark plug off the bench.)
Other teams who have looked very solid: Kansas, Louisville, Michigan State, Washington State, Texas
2. Most Dissapointing Team?
This could go to a lot of squads, but I'm going with Vanderbilt. The Commodores were a very solid squad throughout the year, going 26-8 and averaging 80 ppg. That record included a 41-point win in the 2nd half of the season over #11 seed Kentucky and a 3-point win over former #1 ranked, and current #2 seed Tennessee.
They came into the tourney as a #4 seed in the Midwest, drawing #13 seed Siena in the 1st Round, no doubt a solid squad who can score in bunche themselves, but a team who only got in by winning their conference tourney.
So what happened in that 1st Round matchup? Vandy laid an absolute egg and lost by 21 points, 83-62. The Commodores never led, as the Saints jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and stayed on the gas pedal the whole way. Vandy only shot 41% from the field in getting their names into the record books, as Siena's win was the 2nd largest margin of victory for a 13 seed over a 4 seed since the Tournament expanded to 64/65 teams in 1985.
Other dissapointments include: UCONN, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh
3. Best Opening-Weekend Game
#5 Drake v. #12 Western Kentucky (W. Kentucky wins 101-99 in OT). This game is the epitome of what makes the NCAA Tourney the best 3 weeks on the sports calendar. Slim, Mitch, and I met up with some buddies at the ESPN Zone in Denver, where we ended up watching the 2nd half and OT of this game. All of us, except Slim, picked Drake to win this game in our brackets (Mitch had the most riding on it as he had Drake as an Elite Eight team).
Western Kentucky had a 9-point lead at halftime, and built that up to 16 at the Under-12:00 media timeout. The Hilltoppers were rolling, and everytime Drake would try to make a run, it seemed like WKU would hit a big bucket to push it back to double digits.
However, Drake finally showed why they dominated as a mid-major this season, and brought the game to within 1-point with just over 1:00 to play. The Hilltoppers Tyrone Brazelton then hit a jumper on thir next possession to push the lead back to 3, but in true Tourney fashion, the Bulldogs' Jonathan Cox knocked down a game-tying three to send it OT.
The OT session went back and forth. Western Kentucky was up 1 with 21 seconds to play, and after a series of blown lay-ups, Drake finally got fouled with 5.7 seconds to play, sending Cox to the line. He calmly knocked down both free throws, to put the Bulldogs up 99-98. Western Kentucky needed a basket to win, and boy, did they get it.
After Rogers hit that shot, most of the room let out a big groan, except for about 5 people, including Slim, who jumped out of his chair and to this day won't let us forget that he picked the Western Kentucky upset (Granted, Western Kentucky also won their next game against fellow cinderella #13 seed San Diego...a game Slim did not pick correctly, although almost no one in America did either).
But even if we were upset at the Hilltoppers at that moment, now, we're probably all Western Kentucky fans. After all, without these games, it wouldn't be March Madness.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
NCAA Trip to Denver!
Wow! It's been a great week! Slim, his friend Mitch, and I went down to Denver for the 1st round of the NCAA Tourney, and had an absolute blast. We got to see four 1st Round games on Thursday, two 5-12 matchups and two 4-13 matchups, and two 2nd Round games Saturday, which ended up with both #4 and #5 seeds advancing to play each other. We had been following the bracketology projections all season long, and really liked who we ended up with in Denver.
The matchups:
10:30 AM - #5 Michigan State v. #12 Temple
1:00 PM - #4 Pittsburgh v. #13 Oral Roberts
5:30 PM - #4 Washington State v. #13 Winthrop
8:00 PM - #5 Notre Dame v. #12 George Mason
In any sporting event, my theory is that it's always more fun to have a rooting interest. So before we left, Slim and I decided to pick a team in each game we wanted to win, and then we were painted letters on T-shirts representing each team.
Our Picks:
Temple - shirts said "X-MAS" (Temple's best player is named Dionte Christmas...no joke)
Pittsburgh - shirts said "PITT"
Washington State - shirts said "WSU" (both Q2's Nikki Laurenzo and Jennifer Rohrer graduated from Wash. St., so we had to support...Go Cougs!)
Georgre Mason - shirts said "GMU"
In the first matchup, Michigan State aboslutely shut down Temple, and Christmas was held scoreless in the 1st half, and scored only 3 points all game (averaged 21 ppg during season). So we didn't have too much to cheer for.
However, in the 2nd game, Pittsburgh came out on fire, and we were pretty excited about it since we now had something to cheer for. As PITT kept up their offensive firepower, we ended up standing and cheering for most of the game, and I guess some photographers noticed. Because the next day, this surfaced in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:
We became media darlings in Pittsburgh! And for those of you who don't know, that's me on the left, Mitch in the middle, and Slim on the right.
Needless to say, we were all pretty excited about the picture when we found it the next day. Throughout the game, several photographers, including one who we think was from NCAA Championship Photos, came up into the stands asking us for our names so they could put them in picture captions.
And then, as we were walking out of the arena after the morning session of games, KCNC, the CBS affiliate in Denver, stopped us to interview us for a story they were doing. They said they were looking for PITT fans, and seeing as how we were dressed the way we were, we figured we would oblige.
None of the other games proved to be as eventuful as that Pitt-Oral Roberts matchup, but that alone was easily the biggest highlight of our entire trip. There were so many good stories and funny moments that the three of us will remember for the rest of our lives, but that picture will always stick out.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Q2 Bracket Battle!
Hey everybody! Make sure you go to KTVQ.com and sign up for our Papa Johns Bracket Battle!
Here's the deal:
There are two ways to play:
1. Round by Round:
Unlike the traditional bracket, where you are required to pick every game before the tournament starts, this way allows you to just pick games each round. For example, if you sign up right now, you will be asked to select a winner from each of the 1st round games. After the first round is over, two players with the most correct picks will each win a Papa Johns Free Pizza Gift Certificate.
Then, once the 2nd Round matchups are determined, everyone picks all over again, no matter if you picked the correct matchup in the first round or not. Everyone starts with a clean slate.
After all six rounds, the player with the most total picks correct will win an additional 3 Papa Johns Free Pizza Gift Certificates, in addition to any they mat have already won for winning a round.
In addition to the chances to win free Papa Johns Pizza, you can compete against Scott, Richie, and me (The Q2 Crew) for bragging rights within South Central Montana. See if the "Sports Guys" actually know what we're talking about...or not!
2. Pick Upfront (Traditional Bracket):
You can also choose to fill out a traditional bracket just like you will find on any other site. This is obviously a tougher way to win, because you do not get to start over every round, and if one of your Final Four picks gets knocked out early, your chances of winning will take a hit.
It works just like every other bracket you've ever filled out. You have to pick every game before the first round tips off Thursday morning. But pay close attention to the Point Structure for each round:
Each round of the tournament is worth 64 points. There are 6 rounds in the tournament that total up to 384 points. First round games are 2 points each. Second round games are 4 points each. Third round games are 8 points each. Fourth round games are 16 points each. Fifth round games are 32 points each. And the final championship game is worth 64 points.
So even if you are way behind after the first couple of rounds, as long as your Final Four Teams are still alive, you can definitely still win.
If you pick every game correctly, you can win $100,000! If you miss one or two games, you can win $10,000, and if you miss three, you can win $1,000.
So sign up for both and try and win absolutely everything with the Perfect Bracket!
Bracketology
Hey everybody! It's my favorite time of the year once again...March Madness is without a doubt the greatest 3 weeks on the sports calendar. And pay particular attention to the first weekend of The Tournament (1st and 2nd Rounds), in which, over a 4-day span, you get to see 48 games from arguably the best 64 teams in college basketball.
48 GAMES IN 4 DAYS!!!
And the beauty of The Tournament is that you do not have to even be a fan of college basketball to have fun during it! March Madness has added a word to our everyday vocabulary:
Bracketology.
The brilliance of the bracket has never been more evident than it is today. You can go to almost any website that has any sports content on it, and they will almost assuredly have a Bracket Challenege contest. Most of them are free, and usually there are significant cash prizes to the top finishers. Where else can you find a better deal than that!
Of course, as any Senior Bracketologist can attest, the "winners" are just as often the product of dumb luck as actual basketball knowledge. In the thousands of office pools that will be created this year, there will be just as many secretaries who win because "a Bulldog is cuter than a Wildcat," as there will be winners who actually know what Gonzaga and Davidson bring to the court.
This can be very frutrasting to the people (i.e...me) who will spend all Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday studying the collective RPI's, records vs. Top 25 opponents, and Points-Per-Game Differential, thinking we will gain that little competitive advantage which will tell us that Cornell will indeed beat Stanford and give us that 1 extra point which will put us over Jane from Accounting in the standings.
But let's be honest...it doesn't work that way. March Madness is about as unpredictable a sporting event as you can get. And even though I know this, I still have spent all Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and will spend tomorrow finalizing my picks, only to have my entire bracket uprooted in one day when Butler loses to South Alabama.
Maybe I should just steal Jane from Accounting's Bracket.
48 GAMES IN 4 DAYS!!!
And the beauty of The Tournament is that you do not have to even be a fan of college basketball to have fun during it! March Madness has added a word to our everyday vocabulary:
Bracketology.
The brilliance of the bracket has never been more evident than it is today. You can go to almost any website that has any sports content on it, and they will almost assuredly have a Bracket Challenege contest. Most of them are free, and usually there are significant cash prizes to the top finishers. Where else can you find a better deal than that!
Of course, as any Senior Bracketologist can attest, the "winners" are just as often the product of dumb luck as actual basketball knowledge. In the thousands of office pools that will be created this year, there will be just as many secretaries who win because "a Bulldog is cuter than a Wildcat," as there will be winners who actually know what Gonzaga and Davidson bring to the court.
This can be very frutrasting to the people (i.e...me) who will spend all Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday studying the collective RPI's, records vs. Top 25 opponents, and Points-Per-Game Differential, thinking we will gain that little competitive advantage which will tell us that Cornell will indeed beat Stanford and give us that 1 extra point which will put us over Jane from Accounting in the standings.
But let's be honest...it doesn't work that way. March Madness is about as unpredictable a sporting event as you can get. And even though I know this, I still have spent all Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and will spend tomorrow finalizing my picks, only to have my entire bracket uprooted in one day when Butler loses to South Alabama.
Maybe I should just steal Jane from Accounting's Bracket.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The "State" of Montana Basketball
There's an interesting poll on the Gazette Prep Sports website today that asks, "Which Class of Montana Basketball is it harder to win a State Championship as a member of?"
I got to thinking about this question, and I figured there would be a few schools of thought:
I got to thinking about this question, and I figured there would be a few schools of thought:
- Some might argue that it would be most difficult to win a State Title in the AA because the level of play is highest. Each of the 14 schools have much bigger talent pools to draw from than A, B, and C programs, and thus make it tougher to win consistently. Theoretically, there will be fewer "Gimme" games in this class because each school should field a quality team.
- Some might argue that it's tougher to win in Class C because of the number of schools that compete. The AA only has 14 teams, almost all of whom play each other during the season. So they have some familiarity with one another before the postseason comes up. In Class C, there are tons of schools across the state, so you're likely never to have faced any of the teams you'll run into at the State Tournament, thus not knowing teams' styles and possibly getting caught off guard. Not to mention the fact that 'C' schools have to finish in the top two in District and Divisional tournaments (except for the North, where it's the top 3) just to qualify for the State Tourney. The 'AA' schools only have to win one playoff game to get in.
But I believe it would be toughest to win the Class B State Tourney, based on the fact that it combines a little bit of both of the above. Class B schools are obviously still fairly sparsely populated, but do have a significant more talent pool than many of the 'C' teams, who can often have only 6-7 players on a squad. 'B' teams have enough talent to make the games that much more competitive, reducing the number of easy wins a school can count on. BUT...there are still enough 'B' teams across the state that require District and Divisional Tourneys to be played in order to qualify for State. And enough teams to make it likely that you will have never faced any of the three teams you'll have to beat to win State.
So let's review: Class B schools have significantly tougher competition throughout the season than Class C schools. There are fewer "Gimme" games, and while there might not be as much parity as the 'AA' teams, there is definitely more equality in Class B than in Class C. However, the thing that separates the 'B' from the 'AA' is the number of teams. Class B is divided into 8 districts, with each usually having 5-6 teams. That's about 50 teams across the state, as opposed to the 14 'AA' squads. Thus, if a 'B' team can survive through district and divisional tourneys, all the way to State, they likely won't have played their 1st Round opponent, let alone their semi and title game matchups, making it that much tougher to diagnose who the best squad actually is.
Like I said, the best, or should I say...worst...of both worlds.
Review: State C Girls (Guest Blogger)
Hey everybody, Slim here...with my final Class C Basketball Blog of the season (Sad, I know)...
Montana's high school basketball season has come to a close, folks, with the girls wrapping up their state tournaments last weekend. The storyline heading into the Class C state tournament was whether or not Big Sandy would be able to finish the season undefeated (as Winifred did in the boys tournament). As most of you know, they did not.
They were "upset" by Highwood in the championship game. I quote "upset" because it wasn't really an upset. Big Sandy handed Highwood their only defeat of the season at the Northern Divisional tournament, winning by one in the semi-finals. The high scoring Lady Mountaineers beat Belt in the play-in game to earn the right to play the East's number one seed, Hinsdale. Hinsdale was a slow-the-tempo type of team, implementing a methodical offense and playing stifling defense. Highwood's offense was too much, and they beat Hinsdale by five. They then easily beat Harlowton and Big Sandy to win the championship.
Hinsdale, meanwhile, made their way through the loser's brackets and won the consolation game - a victory over Belt (the North's number two seed, Highwood was actually the third seed).
All of the division's had at least one representative playing on Saturday, but the North still provided three of the top four on Saturday night. Harlowton and Twin Bridges both had disappointing loser-out performances on Saturday, but I fully expect Harlowton to be back at state over the next three years. I've been blowing her horn the past few weeks, but Bailey Snelling should play in more than one state tournament. Aside from her 33 point performance in their overtime victory over Hot Springs, Snelling was held in relative check the rest of the tournament only scoring 26 total points in their other two games. She's only a freshman, so she'll only get better. It should be exciting to see how she develops as a player and how far the Lady Engineers go with her at the helm.
Circle and Ekalaka just ended up on the wrong side of the bracket to do much damage. Clearly the North was the class of Class C, and Circle drew Big Sandy and Belt. Ekalaka, after losing to Twin Bridges, lost to Belt. I wish I was a little more familiar with the teams from the West (Twin Bridges and Hot Springs), as they seemingly gave Hinsdale all they could handle. Twin Bridges got the first round victory over Ekalaka, and Hot Springs lost their two games by a total of eight points.
Unfortunately, Harlowton was the only team I had personally seen play, so I can't make any bold predictions for next season. I expect Bailey Snelling (it probably seems like my fixation with her is unhealthy, but she's a point guard, and I, too, was a point guard, so there's bound to be some interest on my part) to improve and for the Lady Engineers to make another state tournament run. And I expect another strong showing from the North (I played in the Northern Division, so I'm a little biased. I don't get paid to do this, so I don't have to hide it).
Alas, Montana's basketball season is over, so our attention now turns to March Madness, so I'll end with this...
Go UK! Wildcats all the way!
Montana's high school basketball season has come to a close, folks, with the girls wrapping up their state tournaments last weekend. The storyline heading into the Class C state tournament was whether or not Big Sandy would be able to finish the season undefeated (as Winifred did in the boys tournament). As most of you know, they did not.
They were "upset" by Highwood in the championship game. I quote "upset" because it wasn't really an upset. Big Sandy handed Highwood their only defeat of the season at the Northern Divisional tournament, winning by one in the semi-finals. The high scoring Lady Mountaineers beat Belt in the play-in game to earn the right to play the East's number one seed, Hinsdale. Hinsdale was a slow-the-tempo type of team, implementing a methodical offense and playing stifling defense. Highwood's offense was too much, and they beat Hinsdale by five. They then easily beat Harlowton and Big Sandy to win the championship.
Hinsdale, meanwhile, made their way through the loser's brackets and won the consolation game - a victory over Belt (the North's number two seed, Highwood was actually the third seed).
All of the division's had at least one representative playing on Saturday, but the North still provided three of the top four on Saturday night. Harlowton and Twin Bridges both had disappointing loser-out performances on Saturday, but I fully expect Harlowton to be back at state over the next three years. I've been blowing her horn the past few weeks, but Bailey Snelling should play in more than one state tournament. Aside from her 33 point performance in their overtime victory over Hot Springs, Snelling was held in relative check the rest of the tournament only scoring 26 total points in their other two games. She's only a freshman, so she'll only get better. It should be exciting to see how she develops as a player and how far the Lady Engineers go with her at the helm.
Circle and Ekalaka just ended up on the wrong side of the bracket to do much damage. Clearly the North was the class of Class C, and Circle drew Big Sandy and Belt. Ekalaka, after losing to Twin Bridges, lost to Belt. I wish I was a little more familiar with the teams from the West (Twin Bridges and Hot Springs), as they seemingly gave Hinsdale all they could handle. Twin Bridges got the first round victory over Ekalaka, and Hot Springs lost their two games by a total of eight points.
Unfortunately, Harlowton was the only team I had personally seen play, so I can't make any bold predictions for next season. I expect Bailey Snelling (it probably seems like my fixation with her is unhealthy, but she's a point guard, and I, too, was a point guard, so there's bound to be some interest on my part) to improve and for the Lady Engineers to make another state tournament run. And I expect another strong showing from the North (I played in the Northern Division, so I'm a little biased. I don't get paid to do this, so I don't have to hide it).
Alas, Montana's basketball season is over, so our attention now turns to March Madness, so I'll end with this...
Go UK! Wildcats all the way!
Review: State A Girls
Let's do a quick comparison:
Take a look at my State A Girls Preview from last week, and pay particular attention to my Predictions at the bottom of the post.
Now take a look at the final State A Girls Bracket from the MHSA website.
Notice anything?
This Tournament shaped up exactly as I thought it would. Anaconda, Glendive, and Miles City wee clearly the three best teams in this field, and the bracket finished up with very few upsets. Once again, it's odd that a State Tourney would shape up as many would have predicted, with the two best teams advancing to the title. Any March Madness fans out there know what I'm talking about.
Anaconda went into this tournament ranked as the #1 seed in the state, and it showed in their dominating performances. They had maybe the toughest road of any team in any State Tournament, facing Miles City in the first round (and winning easily might I add over the very tough defending Champion Cowgirls) and then having to beat a good Havre squad in the semis...only to have to face the East's #1 seed, and probably state's 2nd best team in Glendive. The Copperheads proved they were the best, and did it against the best competition.
Unfortunately for the Lady Devils of Glendive, they once again had to settle for that runner-up trophy. And now face going after that elusive state title without their best player and team leader, Kalli Stanhope, who will graduate in a few short months. Glendive will return 5 prominent players from this year's team, which will allow them to still be a solid club next year, but I don't think it's going to be enough.
As for Miles City, they were another "matchup" victim as they just ran into the wrong team in the 1st Round (Anaconda). I also think the Cowgirls faded down the season stretch, losing their last two meetings with Glendive (including the Eastern Division title). Thus, I dont think Miles City ever had a chance to beat the Copperheads. But kudos to them and their coaching staff for pulling it together after the opening loss and reeling off three straight Loser-Out wins to take home a Trophy.
Congrats as well to Glendive, and most of all Anaconda. You truly were the best this year.
Take a look at my State A Girls Preview from last week, and pay particular attention to my Predictions at the bottom of the post.
Now take a look at the final State A Girls Bracket from the MHSA website.
Notice anything?
This Tournament shaped up exactly as I thought it would. Anaconda, Glendive, and Miles City wee clearly the three best teams in this field, and the bracket finished up with very few upsets. Once again, it's odd that a State Tourney would shape up as many would have predicted, with the two best teams advancing to the title. Any March Madness fans out there know what I'm talking about.
Anaconda went into this tournament ranked as the #1 seed in the state, and it showed in their dominating performances. They had maybe the toughest road of any team in any State Tournament, facing Miles City in the first round (and winning easily might I add over the very tough defending Champion Cowgirls) and then having to beat a good Havre squad in the semis...only to have to face the East's #1 seed, and probably state's 2nd best team in Glendive. The Copperheads proved they were the best, and did it against the best competition.
Unfortunately for the Lady Devils of Glendive, they once again had to settle for that runner-up trophy. And now face going after that elusive state title without their best player and team leader, Kalli Stanhope, who will graduate in a few short months. Glendive will return 5 prominent players from this year's team, which will allow them to still be a solid club next year, but I don't think it's going to be enough.
As for Miles City, they were another "matchup" victim as they just ran into the wrong team in the 1st Round (Anaconda). I also think the Cowgirls faded down the season stretch, losing their last two meetings with Glendive (including the Eastern Division title). Thus, I dont think Miles City ever had a chance to beat the Copperheads. But kudos to them and their coaching staff for pulling it together after the opening loss and reeling off three straight Loser-Out wins to take home a Trophy.
Congrats as well to Glendive, and most of all Anaconda. You truly were the best this year.
Review: State B Girls
Hello everybody! First of all, I apoloize these State Reviews are a bit late in coming, but we've had a fairly busy week trying to wrap out heads around the end of prep basketball...a sad thought, I know.
Before I get to the preivew...a quick note:
The 2007-2008 season was my first experience with Montana High School Basketball. I was born and raised in the basketball hub of Southern California, so I've seen my fair share of good ball players over the years, including several that are now in the NBA. But never before have I seen more parity within every conference than I did this season.
There were so many close games, so many last second game-winners that it truly made this season a joy for me to watch. There might not be the individual talent here as in bigger states such as California, Texas, or Ohio...but I would much rather see a close game than a team dominate with overwhelming talent.
So Montana Basketball has my seal of approval, without a doubt.
On to the State B Girls Review...
If you'll recall my State B Girls Preview, I thought Fairfield would win this tourney, and they did, fairly easily, winning all three games by at least 12 points. Fairfield was a very good squad all year long from the tough Norhern Division. If they played to their potential, which they did, they were going to be the best team there, which they were, and would win this tourney, which they did. How often does that happen anymore? :)
I did not however, see Whitehall as the team Fairfield would have to beat in the title game. Whitehall pulled off what I considered a good upset against Malta, preventing an all-North title game, something we saw a lot of this season at State. The M'Ettes did end up taking third, beating a very game Cascade squad in the Consolation game.
The most dissapointing division had to be the East (represented by Shepherd and Columbus). The Lady Cougs, who came in the East's #1 seed, went two and out. In all fairness, their 1st Round matchup was against eventual state champion Fairfield. But I expected more of the Lady Cougs in their loser-out contest against Loyola, in which Columbus lost 52-45. As for Shepherd, they also lost in the 1st Round to eventual 3rd place winner Malta, but did manage to win their Friday Loser-out against Deer Lodge (not that impressive...I had Deer Lodge as the weakest team in the field). The Fillies then lost to Cascade in their Saturay Loser-Out. Overall...the East went 1-4...and I expected something better.
Congrats once again to Fairfield, Whitehall, and Malta...your 2008 State B Girls trophy winners. And congrats to the North, who proved they were definitely the Division to beat this season.
Before I get to the preivew...a quick note:
The 2007-2008 season was my first experience with Montana High School Basketball. I was born and raised in the basketball hub of Southern California, so I've seen my fair share of good ball players over the years, including several that are now in the NBA. But never before have I seen more parity within every conference than I did this season.
There were so many close games, so many last second game-winners that it truly made this season a joy for me to watch. There might not be the individual talent here as in bigger states such as California, Texas, or Ohio...but I would much rather see a close game than a team dominate with overwhelming talent.
So Montana Basketball has my seal of approval, without a doubt.
On to the State B Girls Review...
If you'll recall my State B Girls Preview, I thought Fairfield would win this tourney, and they did, fairly easily, winning all three games by at least 12 points. Fairfield was a very good squad all year long from the tough Norhern Division. If they played to their potential, which they did, they were going to be the best team there, which they were, and would win this tourney, which they did. How often does that happen anymore? :)
I did not however, see Whitehall as the team Fairfield would have to beat in the title game. Whitehall pulled off what I considered a good upset against Malta, preventing an all-North title game, something we saw a lot of this season at State. The M'Ettes did end up taking third, beating a very game Cascade squad in the Consolation game.
The most dissapointing division had to be the East (represented by Shepherd and Columbus). The Lady Cougs, who came in the East's #1 seed, went two and out. In all fairness, their 1st Round matchup was against eventual state champion Fairfield. But I expected more of the Lady Cougs in their loser-out contest against Loyola, in which Columbus lost 52-45. As for Shepherd, they also lost in the 1st Round to eventual 3rd place winner Malta, but did manage to win their Friday Loser-out against Deer Lodge (not that impressive...I had Deer Lodge as the weakest team in the field). The Fillies then lost to Cascade in their Saturay Loser-Out. Overall...the East went 1-4...and I expected something better.
Congrats once again to Fairfield, Whitehall, and Malta...your 2008 State B Girls trophy winners. And congrats to the North, who proved they were definitely the Division to beat this season.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Review: State C Boys (Guest Blogger)
Hey everyone, Slim here. Sorry it took a little longer to get this State C Boys Tourney review out, but it's been a busy week around here. But without further ado...here we go!
The boys finished up their seasons last weekend in Butte, where Winifred beat Rocky Boy in the state championship, and Big Sandy beat Scobey in the consolation game. That means the top three teams in the state came from the Northern Division. I was not at all surprised to see Winifred win the tournament. I watched them earlier in the season, and they put on a solid performance. Ending the season with a zero in the loss column is nearly impossible (just ask the New England Patriots), and Winifred did just that. Congratulations to the Red Raiders on an excellent season.
Twin Bridges and Plenty Coups have to be disappointed with the way their seasons turned out. Both met superior competition in the semi-finals, and then had tough losses in loser-out action on Saturday. Drawing Big Sandy in their first loser-out game was a very difficult draw for the Longhorns out of Wibaux. I thought Wibaux might be able to upset a team or two in the tourney, but their small, aggressive lineups didn’t work very effectively at this level.
But the story of the tournament was the play of Winifred and the rest of the Northern Division. I used to play in the Northern Division, so I am a little biased, but this division is the most competitive in Class “C,” and maybe in the entire state. The Class “C” champion has come from the Northern Division seven out of the last 10 years (for all of the past champions, click here).
In 2006 the state tournament expanded to allow for three teams from the Northern Division to qualify in an effort to provide division-equality (the North has more teams in it than the other divisions do). This year, the three from the North finished first, second, and third. Last year, the North finished first and second. Maybe, instead of giving the North more teams in the tournament, they should be limited to one…in an effort of parity.
Just a thought ;)
The boys finished up their seasons last weekend in Butte, where Winifred beat Rocky Boy in the state championship, and Big Sandy beat Scobey in the consolation game. That means the top three teams in the state came from the Northern Division. I was not at all surprised to see Winifred win the tournament. I watched them earlier in the season, and they put on a solid performance. Ending the season with a zero in the loss column is nearly impossible (just ask the New England Patriots), and Winifred did just that. Congratulations to the Red Raiders on an excellent season.
Twin Bridges and Plenty Coups have to be disappointed with the way their seasons turned out. Both met superior competition in the semi-finals, and then had tough losses in loser-out action on Saturday. Drawing Big Sandy in their first loser-out game was a very difficult draw for the Longhorns out of Wibaux. I thought Wibaux might be able to upset a team or two in the tourney, but their small, aggressive lineups didn’t work very effectively at this level.
But the story of the tournament was the play of Winifred and the rest of the Northern Division. I used to play in the Northern Division, so I am a little biased, but this division is the most competitive in Class “C,” and maybe in the entire state. The Class “C” champion has come from the Northern Division seven out of the last 10 years (for all of the past champions, click here).
In 2006 the state tournament expanded to allow for three teams from the Northern Division to qualify in an effort to provide division-equality (the North has more teams in it than the other divisions do). This year, the three from the North finished first, second, and third. Last year, the North finished first and second. Maybe, instead of giving the North more teams in the tournament, they should be limited to one…in an effort of parity.
Just a thought ;)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
State A Preview - Girls
Hey folks! Sorry this one is a little late, but here is your State A Girls preview. The big storyline here is the East. Can Miles City and Glendive make it an all-Eastern State Title Game for the third straight year? Or will someone like Anaconda crash the party. Here we go!
STATE A Girls @ Hamilton
12:30 p.m. - Anaconda (19-1, South #1) v. Miles City (18-2, East #2)
2:00 p.m. - Bigfork (19-1, North #1) v. Havre (14-6, Central #2)
6:30 p.m. - Livingston (14-5, Central #1) v. Whitefish (13-8, North #2)
8:00 p.m. - Glendive (17-2, East #1) v. Dillon (South #2, 11-9)
Click here for the full bracket.
1. Who's the favorite?
Anaconda. No question. They have run over everyone they've played in Class A (their only loss came against Class AA power Butte, 56-41 on the road). Otherwise, they are 8-0 against Class A tournament teams and Class AA teams in general (2 wins over Hellgate, 1 over Capital). Anaconda has absolutely showed they should be the #1 ranked team in the state.
They have a tough draw in the first round against defending State Champ and Eastern power Miles City, but Anaconda will prevail in that matchup. They are too balanced on the offensive side, and pressure the ball very well. Torrie Cahill and the rest of the Cowgirls are coming off their second loss of the season (both to Glendive) and are not playing their best ball.
2. Which non-Division champion is most likely to pull an upset?
I don't see too many possibilites for 1st round upsets here, but I will say Havre because they have played the toughest competition this season. They have played 7 games against Class A, Class B, and Class AA State Tournament Qualifiers. The Blue Ponies are only 3-4 in those contests, but I think the experience has helped them become a battle-tested, and thus dangerous, 1st round opponent for Bigfork.
3. Which Division champion is most likely to be upset?
Like I said, I honestly believe the four #1 seeds should win their first round games, oddly enough for a State Tournament. But sticking with my Havre prediction, I have to say Bigfork is most likely to be upset.
Bigfork has only beaten 1 tournament team (Whitefish) and was easily taken care of by Anaconda in their first game of the year. Obviously teams have changed a lot since then, but I think the lack of solid competition has not prepared Bigfork enough for this tourney. And that makes them vulnerable.
4. Predictions:
First Round: Anaconda over Miles City, Havre over Bigfork, Livingston over Whitefish, Glendive over Dillon
Friday Loser-Out Games: Miles City over Bigfork, Whitefish over Dillon
Semi-Finals: Anaconda over Havre, Glendive over Livingston
Saturday Loser-Out Games: Miles City over Livingston, Havre over Whitefish
Consolation: Miles City over Havre
Championship: Anaconda over Glendive
STATE A Girls @ Hamilton
12:30 p.m. - Anaconda (19-1, South #1) v. Miles City (18-2, East #2)
2:00 p.m. - Bigfork (19-1, North #1) v. Havre (14-6, Central #2)
6:30 p.m. - Livingston (14-5, Central #1) v. Whitefish (13-8, North #2)
8:00 p.m. - Glendive (17-2, East #1) v. Dillon (South #2, 11-9)
Click here for the full bracket.
1. Who's the favorite?
Anaconda. No question. They have run over everyone they've played in Class A (their only loss came against Class AA power Butte, 56-41 on the road). Otherwise, they are 8-0 against Class A tournament teams and Class AA teams in general (2 wins over Hellgate, 1 over Capital). Anaconda has absolutely showed they should be the #1 ranked team in the state.
They have a tough draw in the first round against defending State Champ and Eastern power Miles City, but Anaconda will prevail in that matchup. They are too balanced on the offensive side, and pressure the ball very well. Torrie Cahill and the rest of the Cowgirls are coming off their second loss of the season (both to Glendive) and are not playing their best ball.
2. Which non-Division champion is most likely to pull an upset?
I don't see too many possibilites for 1st round upsets here, but I will say Havre because they have played the toughest competition this season. They have played 7 games against Class A, Class B, and Class AA State Tournament Qualifiers. The Blue Ponies are only 3-4 in those contests, but I think the experience has helped them become a battle-tested, and thus dangerous, 1st round opponent for Bigfork.
3. Which Division champion is most likely to be upset?
Like I said, I honestly believe the four #1 seeds should win their first round games, oddly enough for a State Tournament. But sticking with my Havre prediction, I have to say Bigfork is most likely to be upset.
Bigfork has only beaten 1 tournament team (Whitefish) and was easily taken care of by Anaconda in their first game of the year. Obviously teams have changed a lot since then, but I think the lack of solid competition has not prepared Bigfork enough for this tourney. And that makes them vulnerable.
4. Predictions:
First Round: Anaconda over Miles City, Havre over Bigfork, Livingston over Whitefish, Glendive over Dillon
Friday Loser-Out Games: Miles City over Bigfork, Whitefish over Dillon
Semi-Finals: Anaconda over Havre, Glendive over Livingston
Saturday Loser-Out Games: Miles City over Livingston, Havre over Whitefish
Consolation: Miles City over Havre
Championship: Anaconda over Glendive
State B Preview - Girls
Once again, the North looks like the region to beat in the State B Girls Tournament. Malta and Fairfield are both very strong teams, and I will venture to say one of them will win this tournament. So let's discuss how this thing might shape up...
STATE B Girls @ Butte
12:30 p.m. - Malta (21-2, North #1) v. Shepherd (20-3, East #2)
2:00 p.m. - Whitehall (16-8, South #1) v. Deer Lodge (16-9, West #2)
6:30 p.m. - Missoula Loyola (19-4, West #1) v. Cascade (19-4, South #2)
8:00 p.m. - Columbus (19-4, East #1) v. Fairfield (22-1, North #2)
Click here for the full bracket.
1. Who's the favorite?
I've got to go with Malta on this one. The M'ettes are the defending State champs, and are coming off their biggest win of the year, a 61-60 Double OT thriller over previously unbeaten Fairfield in the Northern B Divisional Title Game. Malta absolutely rolled their Class B competition this year, giving up only 28 points per game with their very stingy and opportunistic defense.
I'm one who believes Tournament experiece is incredibly important at State, and Malta has the most out of anyone, returning almost the exact same lineup this season as their State B Champion Team last year. In fact, their first round matchup against Shepherd is a rematch of last year's State title game. However, Shepherd is a very different team (read: not as good), and Malta should handle them easily.
And that doesn't even mention the fact that Malta's two losses this season came to Class A teams in Havre and Lewistown by a combined 3 points.
2. Which non-Division champion is most likely to pull an upset?
This could be one of two teams. Obviously, Fairfield is one of the strongest teams in the field. They lost their first game of the season in their last game...a Double OT, 61-60 loss to Malta that gave them the #2 seed from the North. So the Eagles' have to be considered a favorite to pull off a 1st Round upset.
In addition to Fairfield, I think Cascade can pull off the upset. Three of their four losses this year have come to tournament teams, two to Fairfield by a combined 11 points. Now granted, this is Cascade's first ever State Tournament appearance. However, they have 3 players scoring in double digits, and only give up 37 points per game.
Cascade's first round matchup is Missoula Loyola, the #1 seed from the West. Loyola has made the tournament five straight times now, including a State title back in 2006. But I just have a feeling about Cascade.
3. Which Division champion is most likely to be upset?
I'm going with Missoula Loyola in this one. I don't think the Breakers have enough scoring to compete with Cascade. Their top two scorers, Brittney Anderson and Christina Medieros, only combine for 22 points per game.
However, the Breakers are making their 5th straight tourney appearance, which like I said above, means a lot at State. Their experiecne alone could carry them a long way in this tourney, but I think they're the weakest of the four Division Champions. So I'll go with them to be upset.
(Note: I also think Fairfield will beat Columbus, but that won't be Columbus' fault so much as a very tough draw in Fairfield.)
4, Predictions:
First Round: Malta over Shepherd, Whitehall over Deer Lodge, Cascade over Missoula Loyola, Fairfield over Columbus
Friday Loser-Out Games: Shepherd over Deer Lodge, Columbus over Missoula Loyola
Semi-Finals: Malta over Whitehall, Fairfield over Cascade
Saturday Loser-Out Games: Columbus over Whitehall, Cascade over Shepherd
Consolation: Columbus over Cascade
Championship: Fairfield over Malta
STATE B Girls @ Butte
12:30 p.m. - Malta (21-2, North #1) v. Shepherd (20-3, East #2)
2:00 p.m. - Whitehall (16-8, South #1) v. Deer Lodge (16-9, West #2)
6:30 p.m. - Missoula Loyola (19-4, West #1) v. Cascade (19-4, South #2)
8:00 p.m. - Columbus (19-4, East #1) v. Fairfield (22-1, North #2)
Click here for the full bracket.
1. Who's the favorite?
I've got to go with Malta on this one. The M'ettes are the defending State champs, and are coming off their biggest win of the year, a 61-60 Double OT thriller over previously unbeaten Fairfield in the Northern B Divisional Title Game. Malta absolutely rolled their Class B competition this year, giving up only 28 points per game with their very stingy and opportunistic defense.
I'm one who believes Tournament experiece is incredibly important at State, and Malta has the most out of anyone, returning almost the exact same lineup this season as their State B Champion Team last year. In fact, their first round matchup against Shepherd is a rematch of last year's State title game. However, Shepherd is a very different team (read: not as good), and Malta should handle them easily.
And that doesn't even mention the fact that Malta's two losses this season came to Class A teams in Havre and Lewistown by a combined 3 points.
2. Which non-Division champion is most likely to pull an upset?
This could be one of two teams. Obviously, Fairfield is one of the strongest teams in the field. They lost their first game of the season in their last game...a Double OT, 61-60 loss to Malta that gave them the #2 seed from the North. So the Eagles' have to be considered a favorite to pull off a 1st Round upset.
In addition to Fairfield, I think Cascade can pull off the upset. Three of their four losses this year have come to tournament teams, two to Fairfield by a combined 11 points. Now granted, this is Cascade's first ever State Tournament appearance. However, they have 3 players scoring in double digits, and only give up 37 points per game.
Cascade's first round matchup is Missoula Loyola, the #1 seed from the West. Loyola has made the tournament five straight times now, including a State title back in 2006. But I just have a feeling about Cascade.
3. Which Division champion is most likely to be upset?
I'm going with Missoula Loyola in this one. I don't think the Breakers have enough scoring to compete with Cascade. Their top two scorers, Brittney Anderson and Christina Medieros, only combine for 22 points per game.
However, the Breakers are making their 5th straight tourney appearance, which like I said above, means a lot at State. Their experiecne alone could carry them a long way in this tourney, but I think they're the weakest of the four Division Champions. So I'll go with them to be upset.
(Note: I also think Fairfield will beat Columbus, but that won't be Columbus' fault so much as a very tough draw in Fairfield.)
4, Predictions:
First Round: Malta over Shepherd, Whitehall over Deer Lodge, Cascade over Missoula Loyola, Fairfield over Columbus
Friday Loser-Out Games: Shepherd over Deer Lodge, Columbus over Missoula Loyola
Semi-Finals: Malta over Whitehall, Fairfield over Cascade
Saturday Loser-Out Games: Columbus over Whitehall, Cascade over Shepherd
Consolation: Columbus over Cascade
Championship: Fairfield over Malta
State C Preview - Girls (Guest Blogger)
Hey everybody, Slim here once again with my final Class C Tourney preview. This time, we've already seen a very exciting State C boys Tourney wrap up with Winifred ending up as the only undefeated boys team in Montana (26-0), so let's now look at the the girls can do...
STATE C Girls @ Belgrade
11:00 a.m. - Belt (20-5, North #2) vs. Highwood (18-3, North #3)
12:30 p.m. - Ekalaka (24-2, South #2) vs. Twin Bridges (23-1, West #1)
2:00 p.m. - Circle (18-6, East #2) vs. Big Sandy (23-0, North #1)
6:30 p.m. - Harlowton (21-2, South #1) vs. Hot Springs (18-2, West #2)
8:00 p.m. - Belt/Highwood vs. Hinsdale (23-1, East #1)
As was the case with the State C Boys Tournament, the Northern Division sends three teams to the State C Girls Tournament. Belt and Highwood will play each other in the play-in game Thursday at 11:00 a.m. to kick off the tournament. Look at the bracket here.
1. Who’s the favorite?
As I said in the boys’ blog, all of these teams deserve to be here, and any one of them could win the tournament. The favorite here is probably Big Sandy, given the unblemished record. Twin Bridges and Hinsdale both deserve to be in the conversation with their one-loss records, but until they lose, Big Sandy is the team to beat.
2. Which non-Division champion is most likely to pull an upset?
Highwood. They played Big Sandy within a point at the divisional tournament in the semi-finals. They’ve beaten Belt three times this season, so I think they win the play-in game, then get an interesting match-up with Hinsdale. Highwood likes to get the ball up and down the floor, and Hinsdale prefers a slower-tempo. I like up-tempo style of Highwood to prevail, and the Mountaineers to pull the upset.
3. Which Division champion is most likely to be upset?
Hinsdale is the one seed I see being upset, but that’s more because of the match-up with Highwood than anything else. The other three one seeds should all win their first round games, so, if Hinsdale gets past Highwood, there would be zero upsets in the state tournament prior to loser-out action. Overall, I think Harlowton is probably the weakest one seed, and they could suffer a letdown against Hot Springs, but I don’t see that happening. The only upset I’m picking, then, is Highwood over Hinsdale.
4. Predictions:
First Round: Highwood over Belt (play-in game), Twin Bridges over Ekalaka, Big Sandy over Circle, Harlowton over Hot Springs, Highwood over Hinsdale
Friday Loser-Out Games: Ekalaka over Belt, Hinsdale over Hot Springs, Ekalaka over Circle
Semi-Finals: Big Sandy over Twin Bridges, Highwood over Harlowton
Saturday Loser-Out Games: Harlowton over Ekalaka, Twin Bridges over Hinsdale
Consolation: Twin Bridges over Harlowton
Championship: Big Sandy over Highwood
STATE C Girls @ Belgrade
11:00 a.m. - Belt (20-5, North #2) vs. Highwood (18-3, North #3)
12:30 p.m. - Ekalaka (24-2, South #2) vs. Twin Bridges (23-1, West #1)
2:00 p.m. - Circle (18-6, East #2) vs. Big Sandy (23-0, North #1)
6:30 p.m. - Harlowton (21-2, South #1) vs. Hot Springs (18-2, West #2)
8:00 p.m. - Belt/Highwood vs. Hinsdale (23-1, East #1)
As was the case with the State C Boys Tournament, the Northern Division sends three teams to the State C Girls Tournament. Belt and Highwood will play each other in the play-in game Thursday at 11:00 a.m. to kick off the tournament. Look at the bracket here.
1. Who’s the favorite?
As I said in the boys’ blog, all of these teams deserve to be here, and any one of them could win the tournament. The favorite here is probably Big Sandy, given the unblemished record. Twin Bridges and Hinsdale both deserve to be in the conversation with their one-loss records, but until they lose, Big Sandy is the team to beat.
2. Which non-Division champion is most likely to pull an upset?
Highwood. They played Big Sandy within a point at the divisional tournament in the semi-finals. They’ve beaten Belt three times this season, so I think they win the play-in game, then get an interesting match-up with Hinsdale. Highwood likes to get the ball up and down the floor, and Hinsdale prefers a slower-tempo. I like up-tempo style of Highwood to prevail, and the Mountaineers to pull the upset.
3. Which Division champion is most likely to be upset?
Hinsdale is the one seed I see being upset, but that’s more because of the match-up with Highwood than anything else. The other three one seeds should all win their first round games, so, if Hinsdale gets past Highwood, there would be zero upsets in the state tournament prior to loser-out action. Overall, I think Harlowton is probably the weakest one seed, and they could suffer a letdown against Hot Springs, but I don’t see that happening. The only upset I’m picking, then, is Highwood over Hinsdale.
4. Predictions:
First Round: Highwood over Belt (play-in game), Twin Bridges over Ekalaka, Big Sandy over Circle, Harlowton over Hot Springs, Highwood over Hinsdale
Friday Loser-Out Games: Ekalaka over Belt, Hinsdale over Hot Springs, Ekalaka over Circle
Semi-Finals: Big Sandy over Twin Bridges, Highwood over Harlowton
Saturday Loser-Out Games: Harlowton over Ekalaka, Twin Bridges over Hinsdale
Consolation: Twin Bridges over Harlowton
Championship: Big Sandy over Highwood
Review: State A Boys
Wait a minute…a team from the North won the Boys State A title as well?!? Browning not only won this Championship, they dominated it from start to finish. The Indians won their 1st Round game by 15, their Semi-Final by 17, and the Championship Game against Butte Central by 20 points. That is impressive, considering these were supposed to be the 8 best Class A teams in all of Montana.
I have watched a lot of high school basketball in my time, but never before have I seen someone dominate a Championship Game like Browning D.J. Fish did against Butte Central. Fish has an unbelievable range, and can pull up from 25 feet beyond the arc and knock it down. He finished with 25 pts on 9-14 shooting, including 3-4 from beyond the arc, and was un-guardable in leading the Indians to the State Crown.
On a side not, Billings Central’ magical run came to an end in the Semis at the hands of Butte Central. Unbelievably, the Rams then rebounded to beat Laurel in their Saturday Loser-Out game by 15, only to lose in the 3rd Place game to Dillon, a team they beat in the 1st round, by 15 once again.
Overall, the State A Boys Tourney was probably the most lopsided Tournament we’ve seen so far. In most the State B and C, we saw quite a few 1 point games, in addition to several single and double Overtime affairs. A lot of very close, vey competitive games. However, the A only saw 1 game within 2 points (Stevensville over Laurel, 56-54 in 1st Round).
Congrats once again to Browning, who easily proved they were this year’s best Class A Boys team. And in keeping with the rest of the A, it wasn’t close.
I have watched a lot of high school basketball in my time, but never before have I seen someone dominate a Championship Game like Browning D.J. Fish did against Butte Central. Fish has an unbelievable range, and can pull up from 25 feet beyond the arc and knock it down. He finished with 25 pts on 9-14 shooting, including 3-4 from beyond the arc, and was un-guardable in leading the Indians to the State Crown.
On a side not, Billings Central’ magical run came to an end in the Semis at the hands of Butte Central. Unbelievably, the Rams then rebounded to beat Laurel in their Saturday Loser-Out game by 15, only to lose in the 3rd Place game to Dillon, a team they beat in the 1st round, by 15 once again.
Overall, the State A Boys Tourney was probably the most lopsided Tournament we’ve seen so far. In most the State B and C, we saw quite a few 1 point games, in addition to several single and double Overtime affairs. A lot of very close, vey competitive games. However, the A only saw 1 game within 2 points (Stevensville over Laurel, 56-54 in 1st Round).
Congrats once again to Browning, who easily proved they were this year’s best Class A Boys team. And in keeping with the rest of the A, it wasn’t close.
Review: State B Boys
In what is becoming a theme for the State Tournaments this year, the North dominated Class B, as the #2 seed from the North Shelby defeated the North's #1 seed Fairfield (although those seedings can be a little misleading...Shelby was clearly the better team coming in).
Shelby and Fairfield had already met four times before their Title game clash, each winning two matchups, although Fairfield had taken the last two, including the Northern B Divisional Championship game (35-24). But Shelby was determined not to lose to the Eagles for a 3rd straight time, coming out hot and never letting up in an impressive 47-30 win. Shelby actually won all three of Tourney game by an average of 12 points, so they deserved this crown.
Columbus, who I picked as one of the favorites, ran into Shelby in the 1st Round and never really had a chance against this tough Shelby squad. The Cougars did win their Friday Loser-Out game against Manhattan-Christian, but then suffered a 1 point loss to Missoula Loyola in Saturday's Loser-Out contest to get sent home.
Congrats once again to Shelby, who definitely earned this 2008 State B Boys Title.
Shelby and Fairfield had already met four times before their Title game clash, each winning two matchups, although Fairfield had taken the last two, including the Northern B Divisional Championship game (35-24). But Shelby was determined not to lose to the Eagles for a 3rd straight time, coming out hot and never letting up in an impressive 47-30 win. Shelby actually won all three of Tourney game by an average of 12 points, so they deserved this crown.
Columbus, who I picked as one of the favorites, ran into Shelby in the 1st Round and never really had a chance against this tough Shelby squad. The Cougars did win their Friday Loser-Out game against Manhattan-Christian, but then suffered a 1 point loss to Missoula Loyola in Saturday's Loser-Out contest to get sent home.
Congrats once again to Shelby, who definitely earned this 2008 State B Boys Title.
Review: Eastern B Divisional - Girls
This group of teams has easily been my favorite Girls' teams to watch all season. For some reason, the 3B and 4B have a lot of talent this year and always step up to play well against each other. It's been a very high quality of basketball. But someone has to win, so let's review how the Girls Eastern B went down.
Championship: Columbus over Shepherd (49-43)
Consolation: Colstrip over Baker (49-35)
*Columbus and Shepherd advance to State because Shepherd beat Colstrip, 51-48, in Semi-Final round.
This is how I expected things to turn out. The Semi-Final matchup between Shepherd and Colstrip was a great matchup between two very distinct styles. Colstrip's Megan Wilson was a dominant force, on both sides of the ball, scoring 15 points and getting several key steals to actually put Colstrip in front in the 1st half. She almost single-handedly willed the Fillies to the title.
But Shepherd has a more complete team, whose scoring can come from a variety of places. In the Semi-Final matchup, Shepherd had five players score 8 or more points (led by Ashley Klassen's 12). That was the difference in this one late, as Shepherd could use several different options down the stretch to put points on the board, something Colstrip could not do.
As for the title game, Columbus once again got the best of Shepherd, just as they did in the 4B District Title game, although this matchup was much closer throughout (24-22 @ Half, 31-28 after 3rd Quarter).
But in the end, Columbus' "Dynamic Duo" of Hannah Counter (23 pts in title game) and Megan Patterson (14 pts) as too much for Shepherd to defend. Counter, when she's aggressive, is one of the best players in the state. She can get to the hole almost whenever she wants, not because she's faster than everyone, but because she's incredibly strong with the ball and has great body control. Not to mention she has a lethal jumpshot when given even a little space.
Patterson has the ball-handling and shooting skills of a a guard, although she's usually one of the two tallest girls on the floor. She is probably the toughest matchup in the State because of all the things she can do.
I expect Columbus to make a lot of noise at State, and Shepherd could be right there as well. Like I said, the Fillies are very balanced, which is huge at the State Tourney because nerves will play a factor with many girls. They can score from the outside with Whitney Baustadt and Baylee Crook, and have one of the tallest front lines in 6'2" Allie McRae (although her offensive game is a little raw) and 6'1" Jillian Stanek.
Championship: Columbus over Shepherd (49-43)
Consolation: Colstrip over Baker (49-35)
*Columbus and Shepherd advance to State because Shepherd beat Colstrip, 51-48, in Semi-Final round.
This is how I expected things to turn out. The Semi-Final matchup between Shepherd and Colstrip was a great matchup between two very distinct styles. Colstrip's Megan Wilson was a dominant force, on both sides of the ball, scoring 15 points and getting several key steals to actually put Colstrip in front in the 1st half. She almost single-handedly willed the Fillies to the title.
But Shepherd has a more complete team, whose scoring can come from a variety of places. In the Semi-Final matchup, Shepherd had five players score 8 or more points (led by Ashley Klassen's 12). That was the difference in this one late, as Shepherd could use several different options down the stretch to put points on the board, something Colstrip could not do.
As for the title game, Columbus once again got the best of Shepherd, just as they did in the 4B District Title game, although this matchup was much closer throughout (24-22 @ Half, 31-28 after 3rd Quarter).
But in the end, Columbus' "Dynamic Duo" of Hannah Counter (23 pts in title game) and Megan Patterson (14 pts) as too much for Shepherd to defend. Counter, when she's aggressive, is one of the best players in the state. She can get to the hole almost whenever she wants, not because she's faster than everyone, but because she's incredibly strong with the ball and has great body control. Not to mention she has a lethal jumpshot when given even a little space.
Patterson has the ball-handling and shooting skills of a a guard, although she's usually one of the two tallest girls on the floor. She is probably the toughest matchup in the State because of all the things she can do.
I expect Columbus to make a lot of noise at State, and Shepherd could be right there as well. Like I said, the Fillies are very balanced, which is huge at the State Tourney because nerves will play a factor with many girls. They can score from the outside with Whitney Baustadt and Baylee Crook, and have one of the tallest front lines in 6'2" Allie McRae (although her offensive game is a little raw) and 6'1" Jillian Stanek.
Review: Southern C Divisional - Girls (Guest Blogger)
Hey everybody! Slim here again, reviewing the Southern C Girls Divisional just in time for the State Tourney to start today. My State C Girls Preview will be coming up shortly.
I didn’t get to watch any of these games, but from the scores I’m surprised at the play of Joliet. They were a feisty out and gave Harlowton a tough game in the championship (59-53 in OT). After winning 16 straight, the Lady J-Hawks ended their season with two consecutive losses. Congratulations to Joliet on a great season.
I picked Harlowton and Ekalaka to come out of this division, and they did, but I was surprised to see that Harlowton beat Ekalaka by 14 in the semi-finals. I thought that game might be the best of the tournament, but that title goes to the championship game (as it should). Ekalaka rebounded from the loss well, earning two wins on Saturday and defeating Joliet in the challenge game on Monday.
Both of these teams could make some noise at the state tournament in Belgrade, but Ekalaka has a tough draw. They play the West’s best, Twin Bridges, to start off their tournament, and, if they win, likely earn the right to play Big Sandy. Those are two very difficult games, and nearly impossible back to back. I like Harlowton over Hot Springs in their opener, but their youth and lack of experience could hurt them along the line. Their second round match-up against either Highwood or Hinsdale could prove problematic. If they catch fire, though, and play up to their potential, they could end up playing for the state title.
I didn’t get to watch any of these games, but from the scores I’m surprised at the play of Joliet. They were a feisty out and gave Harlowton a tough game in the championship (59-53 in OT). After winning 16 straight, the Lady J-Hawks ended their season with two consecutive losses. Congratulations to Joliet on a great season.
I picked Harlowton and Ekalaka to come out of this division, and they did, but I was surprised to see that Harlowton beat Ekalaka by 14 in the semi-finals. I thought that game might be the best of the tournament, but that title goes to the championship game (as it should). Ekalaka rebounded from the loss well, earning two wins on Saturday and defeating Joliet in the challenge game on Monday.
Both of these teams could make some noise at the state tournament in Belgrade, but Ekalaka has a tough draw. They play the West’s best, Twin Bridges, to start off their tournament, and, if they win, likely earn the right to play Big Sandy. Those are two very difficult games, and nearly impossible back to back. I like Harlowton over Hot Springs in their opener, but their youth and lack of experience could hurt them along the line. Their second round match-up against either Highwood or Hinsdale could prove problematic. If they catch fire, though, and play up to their potential, they could end up playing for the state title.
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