He'll find Indiana to be unreasonable in expectations but my guess is his he'll do well enough and better than his predecessor. Will Indiana accept a track record similar to his brother Sean? My guess is yes. Sean Miller will get to a Final 4 soon enough and Archie will at IU. Which does first?
- Congratulations to Mark Few and Gonzaga for breaking through. The criticism they've received through the years has been largely unfair. Now, people are mocking them for only having to beat an 11-seed, beating West Virhinia and surviving a Northwestern "scare".
A. Way to go Arizona for not "legitimizing" the Zags Final 4.
B. Checks KenPom and sees West Virginia is still 7th. But West Virginia missed a bunch of shots! Weird. Zags must not have the nation's most efficient defense for a reason.
C. They survived Northwestern? Doubt Carolina gets the same reaction about Arkansas if they advance today.
- The most impressive player of the day was Jordan Bell of Oregon who was so intimidating he basically ruined Kansas. Kansas was so spooked by him, by time they started stopping the Ducks on defense, it was too late. Going to write about Dana Altman and the Ducks path here later this week.
- Bill Self is now 2-7 in regional finals and a bad coach. Or so I hear. Listen KU faithful, be careful what you wish for. The wilderness is vast and you can wonder it for years.
Now, for the games...
East
South Carolina vs. Florida: Is it the Muschamp Bowl or the Spurrier Bowl? Whatever the case, if you had this as your regional final, you live in SEC Country. I've been betting against both since the bracket was announced so what to do?
Let's review Florida's game against the Badgers. Fall behind 16-8 but lead at half. Blow a 12-point lead in the final 3:50 with the final blow being an off-balanced 3 by a former walk-on who punctuates it by doing the Discount Double Choke. Fall behind in overtime by 6. Have Canyon Berry granny some free throws, block Iverson and then Chris Chiozza makes a wild 3 to win at the buzzer. This, while today's opponent manhandled their opponent earlier in the evening. Points to an emotional letdown, no? What the hell do I know?
The Pick: Florida 66 South Carolina 58
South
Kentucky vs. North Carolina:
According to some, this is being billed as the de facto national title game. Again, checks KenPom and scratches head.
Listen, it'll be a good game and the winner will be billed as the favorite next weekend but if you think either would be a lock you haven't been paying attention to what has happened this season. This isn't 2009 North Carolina or 2012 Kentucky. Both are quite good but not dominant.
As for the game, it's 50/50 on KenPom and that sounds right.
The Pick: Kentucky 77 North Carolina 76
No comments:
Post a Comment