Some random thoughts after almost two days of nonstop action:
- We were lucky to get a great night of basketball last night in Philly. A jam-packed arena full of Villanova fans, with the exception of a smaller, but even more vocal group of American fans (fans of the team, not the country ... maybe both). Then a barn-burner in the nightcap with Eric Maynor just missing the chance to write his name into NCAA history for the second time. Once again, we managed to make it down to the 9th row, this time behind the VCU bench. After the game, we huddled near the players' tunnel to slap hands with the Rams and applaud their efforts. Most of the players welcomed the attention, but Maynor was quite down, walking ruefully with his head down back to the locker room. We gave him a literal pat on the back, but I don't think it did much to lift him from his own personal agony of defeat.
- The best team to lose so far is West Virginia. Relatively speaking, Dayton was a bad stylistic matchup for them, but they're too good a team to lose this game. This one's on Bob Huggins. Dayton got whatever they wanted inside the paint and around the rim, but they don't shoot very well. Yet West Virginia never really switched out of its perimeter-pressure defense. This is why every coach, no matter how much he loves man-to-man defense, needs to teach his team how to play at least a basic zone.
- East Tennessee State did not deserve to be saddled with a 16 seed, and they showed it. Pitt didn't really play terribly; ETSU just played really well. It's a shame that they didn't get a shot at, say, a 3 seed. They could've found themselves in the second round.
- Much to my chagrin, LSU has kept the SEC alive. Now I'm faced with the unenviable dilemna of choosing between my desire to see the SEC put out of its misery and my desire to see UNC booted in the second round. I pick the latter. Let's go Tigers!
No comments:
Post a Comment