NCAA Basketball Tournament: Thank-You Wichita State

It’s great that Wichita State earned a trip to the Final Four. The Shockers appearance will draw one tall fellow to the television set.

We need new blood in the championship round and as a ninth-seed the Shockers provide it. As their nickname represents, they have shocked many people in still standing in the tournament.

Many people picked their semi-final opponent Louisville to win the championship. But the Shockers shouldn’t be frightened as they have already taken out the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in their regions. Louisville should win, but should wins are only decided on paper. Wichita State needs to “play angry” as its coach Gregg Marshall says and it will be in the game.

Syracuse and Michigan play in the other game. Yawn. These teams like Louisville have been in this spot consistently and it doesn’t draw much interest for the tall fellow.

Hopefully, the Shockers can shock again and appear in the Monday night championship game. Then the tall fellow will need to watch, otherwise not so much.

Kentucky: Men Against Boys

I have only watched Kentucky play a couple times this season and that has been in the NCAA tournament. This team looks like men. The Wildcats’ opponents look like boys.

Kentucky has obviously talented players. The Cats play as team. They can score from the inside and the outside. They smother you with their defense. They have few holes in their armor.

Can Kentucky be beaten in the Final Four? I see only two ways. First, if the Cats get in foul trouble. They only play about seven players. If the whistles become numerous, Kentucky’s opponent will have a chance. The second way to beat Kentucky is internal. The Cats bow to the intense pressure that they win the title. Kentucky is a huge favorite. Can they withstand the pressure?

TV commentator Charles Barkley says that Kentucky could compete with some NBA teams. I agree. It helps that most of the Cats top players do go to the NBA and early. They are a type of farm club for the NBA.

As one writer said, anything less than a Kentucky national title this season will seem like a failure in the Bluegrass State.

Baylor's Women's Basketball Train Keeps Rolling

The Baylor women’s basketball team is chasing a NCAA title and history.

If the Lady Bears are stressed about the process, they didn’t play like it Monday night. Baylor earned a trip to the Final Four with a 77-58 drubbing of Tennessee.

Guard Odyssey Sims led Baylor with 27 points. Yes, Virginia, the Lady Bears do have other weapons beside Brittney Griner. Griner made her presence known however. The 6-8 post player scored 23 points, collected 15 rebounds and nine blocks. She is hard to stop when near the basket and she is the most intimidating shot blocker in the women’s game.

Griner left the game early literally and figuratively. She was replaced late in the game and figured to watch the rest from the bench. But with 49.6 second left Sims and Tennessee’s Shekinnia Stricklen exchanged words and shoves which resulted in Griner and a couple teammates leaving the bench to act as peacemakers. Leaving the bench is a definite no-no in college basketball. So Griner and her teammates were banned to the locker room.

There will be no future suspensions in the incident which is good news for Baylor. The Lady Bears have a Final Four semi-final date with Stanford Sunday.

With two more victories, Baylor will not only win its second national championship but finish with a 40-0 record—the most victories in a season for women’s or men’s competition.

A College Basketball Player's Tasks

March is a time for playing meaningful college basketball games. First, you want to do well in your league tournament. Then, you want to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament and make the Final Four. These are the goals of all college players when they tie up those sneakers.

But besides the glamour and glory of this season, there is a stark reality. College basketball players are first students. And the better they accomplish in the tournaments, the more classes and schooling they miss.

The bottom line is a true student athlete has a difficult task in big-time college basketball. Players are constantly working on their games. They spend many hours in practice and playing in the games. Because they spent so much time away from campus in the postseason, they better have top-notch time management skills and use spare time for studying.

Sure, students can slack off but it will catch up to them. If it gets bad enough, players lose their eligibility and are prohibited from playing. I often wonder why some players choose this route. The players have invested much in themselves. The university athletic department has done likewise. Why not take advantage of the situation and earn that degree.

As you watch postseason play the next 2-3 weeks, remember the pressure the athletes are under. They not only need to perform well on the court, but at the same juncture perform well in the classroom too.

The Tale of Three Coaches

Butler’s Brad Stevens, Virginia Commonwealth’s Shaka Smart and Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall were this year’s so called hot coaches.

All three had major success in the recently completed season. Steven’s took the Bulldogs to their second straight championship game. Smart led the Rams to the Final Four. Marshall helped the Shockers to the NIT championship. Yet, all three decided to remain at their mid-major schools.

I find that somewhat hard to believe.

Conventional wisdom says a coach should use postseason success as a springboard to more pay and a BCS job. But just maybe these guys didn’t want to go to the bright lights and start over. Generally, the reason the job is open in the first place is because of lack of success from the previous coach. And why leave a successful program for the unknown?

Just maybe these guys have learned from the bad experiences of other mid-major coaches.

We have two examples here in the state of Iowa.

Keno Davis led Drake to the NCAA tournament in his first season as coach. He cashed in on that success and moved on to Providence. The trouble was Davis lost his job at the end of this season after only three years.

Greg McDermott was laboring at Iowa State after leading Northern Iowa to three straight NCAA tournaments. The talk was Iowa State would give him one more year. But this had a happy ending for McDermott. Before Iowa State could pull the plug, Creighton offered McDermott a 10-year deal.

So maybe Stevens, Smart and Marshall subscribe to the theory that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Talking Final Four

The college basketball season has come down to four teams: Cinderella Virginia Commonwealth, Butler, Kentucky and UConn. Sixty-Four teams have already gone home unhappy. Two more will join them today and then one more Monday.

So this suddenly long and grueling season is down to only two games. Remember the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday tournaments? They seem so long ago. Even the first week of the NCAA tournament feels like history.

CBS must think the Kentucky-UConn Final Four game will attract the most viewers since it is the nightcap contest. Maybe CBS is counting on those East Coast television sets and Kentucky’s basketball tradition. Some say this winner will take Monday night’s game too.

But if I could only watch one game, I would choose Virginia Commonwealth and Butler. The Rams are playing for history. If they can win tonight and the championship game, they will have collected seven tournament victories. No team has ever done that.

The fact that Virginia Commonwealth is the Cinderella team is reason enough to view this game. The Rams have stolen the routing interest of many Americans and they want to see them go all the way.

Others still favor Butler. This former Cinderella still garners a strong following. The Bulldogs are playing their best basketball of the season and it’s no stretch that they could win two more games.

So prepare for championship basketball. Who do you think will win it all?

Final Four Heavyweights

Despite the mid-majors (Butler and Virginia Commonwealth) receiving most of the Final Four attention, the heavyweights are still around.

UConn and Kentucky are household college basketball teams and they will represent the establishment Saturday in Houston.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun has built a consistent winner, something that wasn’t happening before he arrived in Storms, Connecticut. His tenure has been far from blissful however. NCAA sanctions for rule violations continue over Calhoun’s head.

Kentucky coach John Calipari has taken three teams to the Final Four with UMass and Memphis being the other two squads. People have never said Calipari cannot coach. His best performance may have been this season. This group returned zero starters from the 2009-10 Kentucky team. But like Calhoun, Calipari has had trouble with the NCAA. Unlike Calhoun, he has not been charged with anything.

Guards usually highlight NCAA play this time of year and the UConn-Kentucky tussle will feature a couple of good ones. UConn’s Kemba Walker has taken over games in the tournament and is scoring 23.4 points per game. On the Kentucky sideline is freshman Brandon Knight. This kid is a point guard who can score. He’s at 17.3 per game.

But my favorite player in this game is Kentucky center Josh Harrellson. At 6-10, 275, he is what they say in basketball, a wide body. He was virtually unknown coming into the tournament, but America is taking a liking to this blue collar worker. He has put up decent numbers this season averaging 7.6 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Here’s hoping the old Kentucky home can gain the victory Saturday and send the final and 11th Big East team home.

No Cinderella Matchup

Some are the calling the Butler-Virginia Commonwealth Final Four game a Cinderella affair. But that isn’t the true picture.

Yes, we do have one true Cinderella team in Virginia Commonwealth. The Rams barely got an invitation to the tournament and were seeded No. 11. They have awakened the college basketball world with five straight tournament wins and knocked out No. 1 seeded Kansas in the Final Four qualifier. Fans are learning all about a school that very few basketball fans know about before the tournament. Yes, Cinderella is Virginia Commonwealth.

Butler is not a Cinderella story, however. Maybe the Bulldogs were in the past, but not this year. They are a veteran NCAA tournament team. Remember last year when they matched Duke toe-to-toe in the championship game? These players know the drill and expect to do well in the tournament. It’s no real surprise that Butler is where the Bulldogs are at this time of year. They did have some hiccups during the season, but once the tournament began, the games faces came on and Butler went into high gear.

What we do have here is a wonderful game between two mid-major schools. It brings rich freshness to the Final Four. Maybe this will force the NCAA brass to invite more mid-majors to the NCAA party. Maybe they can drop some power conference .500 record teams and give the smaller boys a better chance.

Let’s hope they receive the memo.

Virginia Commonwealth Tops Wild Basketball Weekend

The Cinderella slipper firmly remains on Virginia Commonwealth’s foot. The Rams refuse to lose.

Virginia Commonwealth took care of No. 1 seeded Kansas Sunday and earned itself a Four Final berth. This is not a misprint. Your eyes are not deceiving you. Virginia Commonwealth is going to the Final Four.

This is one of the best stories in college basketball in a long, long time. The Rams weren’t given much respect entering the tournament. They were selected as a play-in participant. VCU won that opening test and then an amazing five straight games.

The team with a great named-coach (Shaka Smart) will play Butler Saturday in Houston. That in itself is special. Two mid-major schools battling for a trip to the championship game is indeed priceless.

VCU is suddenly the talk of the college basketball world. The Rams are no longer strangers. They have a new bunch of bandwagon fans hoping to cheer them on to the college basketball promise land.

VCU hopes to still be wearing that slipper championship night. Why doubt the Rams now? That slipper looks pretty shiny.

Hail Butler

Bucky Badger feels sad today. He watched his beloved Wisconsin team steamrolled by Butler last night.

So much for the ESPN experts’ predictions. Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas gave the Bulldogs no chance. They said Butler better not get behind. No problem, boys, Butler handled it.

These Bulldogs are on a mission. Stumbling a bit during the season, Butler is now playing on a high level. It is out to prove that the Bulldogs appearance in the championship game last year was no fluke.

These guys are a veteran group and they show it in the tournament. This isn’t like a kid’s first trip to Disneyland. Butler isn’t wide-eyed. The Bulldogs are business-like and take it one game at a time. They play off their coach Brad Stevens. Stevens keeps them motivated in a steady, confident way. Stevens looks and acts like a choir director out there.

Butler’s next obstacle is Florida. The Gators are an athletic team and a direct opposite of Wisconsin. They like to push the ball and shoot.

The Bulldogs will have a challenge. But this one is for the Final Four. And besides, Butler has already defeated the No. 1 and 4 seeds. It would enjoy added No. 2 to the collection.

It just might happen.

The Big East is a Big Bust

The Big East Conference isn’t so high and mighty after all.

The league entered the NCAA basketball tournament with 11 entries out of 16 teams. Only two teams remain in Marquette and UConn. That means nine clubs didn’t even survive the first weekend of the tournament. Granted, a couple games pitted conferences foes against each other, but this is still significant.

Even the two teams left have a difficult path to the Final Four. I don’t think Marquette will defeat North Carolina in the next round. If it does, Marquette gets the Ohio State-Kentucky winner. If UConn defeats San Diego State (and that’s a big if), the Huskies play the Duke or Arizona.

I guess bias cannot even protect a team once it plays the game. Maybe, the NCAA brass will reconsider its Big East thinking for future NCAA tournaments. As I stated in an earlier blog, no conference should receive 11 bids.

Some of those bids should go to smaller schools in smaller conferences. Who cares if the Big East No. 10 team plays the No. 7 Big Ten team?

We can only hope this lesson has been learned.

Who has the Most Risk in the Iowa State Coaching Situation?

Now that the freshness of the Fred Hoiberg coaching hire is over, we can now analyze who carries the most risk: Hoiberg or Iowa State. Or is there really that much risk?

This would not be an issue if "The Mayor" had some head coaching experience. But the negative people seem to make issue with Hoiberg's blank resume.

Iowa State has little risk. The athletic department just endured four straight losing seasons. The program was pretty low. At times, Cyclone hoops were about as exciting as watching cars travel down Main Street on a Saturday night. Translation: it couldn't become much worse. Athletic Director Jamie Pollard hired a Cyclone hero in Hoiberg. Fans will probably flock back to Hilton Coliseum and give Iowa boy Hoiberg lots of rope in the rebuilding process. If Hoiberg flops, Iowa State just brings in another coach

Hoiberg has more risk but not that much. Could his glory boy status become tarnished if he cannot lead his alma mater to prosperity? I doubt it. Plus, if it doesn't work out, he could probably return to a NBA front office. Hoiberg's people skills will not have him lacking for gainful employment.

I like the hire and view it as much more reward than risk. Hoiberg will surround himself with talented coaches whether on the bench or on the speed dial. If he happens to become more of a public relations/CEO coach, it wouldn't be the first time in college athletics. Remember that football coach at Florida State with the first name of Bobby?

But I think in due time, Hoiberg will return the Cyclones to respectability. I'm not predicting Final Four in the next few years, but how about a few winning records for starters?

No Cinderella Here

Butler's role in the NCAA Tournament is a continued hot topic.

Was Butler a Cinderella team in this year's field? Many in the press made that statement with their stories, columns or broadcast pieces. Many have also cried that the Bulldogs were not a Cinderella team.

I tend to agree with the latter group in this debate.

Butler was a No. 5 seed in the tourney. With the Bulldogs' seed, the selection committee didn't deem them as a Cinderella. They were also consistently rated in the basketball polls during the season. Plus, Butler has a recent history of playing in the Big Dance.

Butler WAS the feel good team of the tournament not the Cinderella. Cinderella needs to move up from the back of the bus maybe as a No. 10, 11 or 12 seed. The Bulldogs were sitting near the front of the bus in plain view. Before the final, they hadn't lost a game since December.

I agree Butler was a great story. Here's a small, mid-major school with talented players but none with eye-popping skills. The Bulldogs defeated some heavyweights in the tournament and played in the Final Four in their hometown.

People also tried to link them with the Hoosiers movie theme. But about the only connection there was both teams hailed from Indiana.

Even if Gordon Hayward's three-point try would have dropped in the bottom of the basket and gave Butler an amazing victory, it would have only capped the feel good story with a perfect ending.

No need to talk slippers here.

And The Winner Is...

I consider myself a big fan of college basketball, but this Final Four is a ho-hum one for me. None-the-less, my television will be on for some of the action today. I need to see if my championship predictions become a slam dunk or an air ball

If you recall, I picked Duke and Michigan State to play Monday night. Butler is my heart's favorite and it would bring greater interest to me if the Bulldogs win tonight. But I'm afraid the Spartans have too many skilled athletes for Brad Steven's bunch.

In fact, I like Michigan State to win the whole thing and beat Duke Monday night.

The Spartans are too tournament-tested, too tough and too focused to not gain the championship. I have been praising Michigan State coach Tom Izzo in this blog for days and why stop now? The guy could probably select eight players at the East Lansing YMCA and mold a competitive team.

Duke is also a tournament-tested team, but it has been a while since it played for these high stakes. Frankly, I am not too impressive with Mike Krzyewski's squad.

But with all that said, this tournament started wide open and it remains wide open. During Final Four time, there are no upsets. The team that does win Monday night will definitely deserve it.

Who is your pick for national champ?

The Slipper Falls Off

Northern Iowa's fun run through the NCAA tourney is over. And it feels like someone punched me in the gut.

When the reality of 59-52 Michigan State set in last night, it was sad.

The dream was over for the Panthers. There will be no Final Four appearance or national championship in 2010. The UNLV and Kansas victories were really longtime memories now.

Things looked promising in the first half as the Panthers took a 29-22 halftime lead.
But in the second half, the sky came down. Northern Iowa couldn't connect on shots including the three ball. Northern Iowa scored just 23 second-half points.

The Panthers finished the game 17-for-44 from the field for just 38.6 per cent. Usual sharp-shooter Ali Farokhmanesh was a mirror of Northern Iowa's problems. He went 2-9 and just 1-6 from the three-point ark. The Panthers normal excellent free throw shooting also left them. They were only 14-21 from the free area.

The Spartans put it into high gear in the second half. They were able to score points from the inside and outside. Plus, they connected on the free throw line. They also benefited from Northern Iowa's turnovers. The Spartan do possess great athletes and it showed in the second half.

So Michigan State goes on to its familiar push for the Final Four. Northern Iowa has memories of what it accomplished in this historic season.

What do you think of the Panther's year?

Butler Rocks

Butler dashed Syracuse's national title hopes last night. It was a wonderful sight to see another No. 1 seed fall in the NCAA tourney. It's the beauty of March Madness.

People call the Butler win an upset. But was it? These Bulldogs haven't last a game a game in a long, long time (undefeated this season). Plus, Butler has a history of success in the NCAA tourney.

This veteran club is like other mid-majors in the tournament. The Bulldogs are veteran team with a hard shell. They won't back down, they won't give in to the opposition.

Butler coach Brad Stevens looks calm on the sidelines. His team displays that calm. Even when the Orange look like they were going in win at the 5-7-minute mark, the Bulldogs didn't panic.

So now its on to the Elite Eight against Kansas State. Despite being a Big 12 Conference fan, here's my vote for Butler.

Wouldn't that be something if the Bulldogs could win Saturday and return to their hometown of Indianapolis for the Final Four?