The Road To The NCAA Final Four....& March Madness!

[EagerBeaver]

Sheray Thomas Update

Last night Montreal's Sheray Thomas, the pride and joy of Lasalle Catholic of Montreal, scored 7 points and had 6 rebounds in 28 minutes of action in Kentucky's surprising 67-58 win over Villanova. I had Villanova winning this game, but never underestimate a Tubby Smith coached team in the NCAA tournament.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I saw Perrotte play in person at UConn. Concordia played exhibitions against UConn and Duke in November of 2005 and lost each of those games by 68 points. But Perrotte is a pretty good player and could play at the D-1 college level in the USA.

 

[kenf]

1st round

As I said in my earlier post Winthrop can play. I believe they can win at least one more game. I am concerned about their bad foul shooting because at this stage all games normallly come down to the final minutes.

I think you are seeing the beginning of Duke fading a little on the national scene. The bottom teams in the ACC are getting better. Some of the players from Duke are now becomming the 1 or 2 year players and then off to the pros. In the past Duke has been playing with seniors and others with underclassmen when competing for the national championship. Time will tell on this.
This weekend their are some great match-ups. I am trying to figuere out which games I will miss so I can get my workouts in. I need to stay in shape for my sp's!

 

[kenf]

Xavier blew it

Xavier has a 3 point lead with less than 10 seconds to go and Ohio State ties it with a late 3 and wins in overtime.
Xavier used the wrong strategy at the end. They should have fouled before Ohio State had the chance to shoot. Make them go to the line and make the first foul shot, miss the second one on purpose and get the offensive rebound and score. Many things have to happen to tie it up on a missed foul shot. Teams practice taking 3 point shots in that situation daily. Many times you see the 3 made at the end.

Considering the fact that Ohio State's big man Odom had foul out the only play was for Xavier was to foul. They had a decided rebounding edge with Odom on the bench. If he would have been in the game the decision becomes tougher. But with the circumstances the way they were the decision became a no brainer. Coach Miller blew it. If the Xavier player makes the second foul shot to go up by 4 then none of this would have happened.
It is amazing how many games are decided by what happens at the foul line.

This is a good sign for Ohio State because it seems that almost every year the team that wins it all wins a game early that they should have lost.

 

[EagerBeaver]

kenf,

I agree, and not only did Xavier blow it by not fouling, they let the red hot player (Lewis) have an open look at the end. It's too bad because Xavier had played a great game up to then, but after Lewis hit that 3 it looked like it took the wind out of their sails.

Last year in the NCAA tournament UConn tied two games with 3 pointers at the end of regulation, against Washington whom they beat, and George Mason to whom they lost.

You are right about every year the team that wins has one major escape. In many ways the NCAA tournament is about survival.

 

[spin]

Hey what happened to this thread

Anyone see Florida repeat with the same 5 starters last night???

The Gators have now given Ohio State a sound beating in 2 National Championship Games in 2 different sports in the same year!

Just Incredible!

This gentlemen is why I don't like Salary Caps or Parity - Isn't it fun to watch a dynasty every once in a while???

 

[kenf]

Florida won the championship back in Feb.

Florida won this championship during the season when they lost multiple games in a short period of time. I believe that those losses refocused them. They realized that they had to play as a team and put more effort into their play. They carried that lesson through the tournament.

Donovan also out coached the Ohio State coach in many areas. It started about a minute into the game when his center Horford got a quick foul. Donovan realized that the officials were calling the post play tight and took him out before he could get his second foul. He rotated big guys on Oden thus insuring that Horford would be rested and not in foul trouble for the second half. Another key strategy he used was that he did not go out of his way to double team Oden in the post. He focused on stopping Ohio States 3 pt. game and until late did a great job of it.

Donovan has a great knack of getting stars to buy into the team concept. In this day and age of selfish athletes to get 5 players to return to college when many of them could have gone to the NBA last year is remarkable.
I believe they started only 1 senior last night. However, this year I think a couple will leave for the pros. If they all came back it would be interesteing to see if they could 3 peat, maybe with a different coach. Florida's administration had better be ready to fork over a bundle of dough to keep Donovan from going to Kentucky.

The semis and the final game were a little disappointing as far as suspense goes. No great finishes or buzzer beaters. However, this tournament continues to be one of, if not the best, sporting event each year.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Donovan also out coached the Ohio State coach in many areas. It started about a minute into the game when his center Horford got a quick foul. Donovan realized that the officials were calling the post play tight and took him out before he could get his second foul. He rotated big guys on Oden thus insuring that Horford would be rested and not in foul trouble for the second half.

And as a result Oden was sucking wind at the end of the game when needed the most, even though he did go off against the single coverage.

Florida simply had a more experienced and balanced team, and as you say, better coaching.